Balance of the Mind and Body
by Cyber Blaze
Summary: Ever wonder if that Mayan Calendar prediction actually came true? What the world be like if everyone panic? Then come and read the following tale of a human that this happens to. The human will be given a choice to go anywhere. He decides to go to the one place where it is peaceful and know nothing of war, Equestria. He will go through hard points and other things as they are thro
1. Prologue: The End, or is it?

**Author's Note:**

Sorry for the long wait, 2014 was crazier than normal for me. But I'm getting back into this. As I said, I'm going to be rewriting these chapter for better flow and structure.

I now have editors to help me so I can make sure everything is good. They are Izanagi and Biker Dash. They will be helping me through the rewrite and new chapters after.

The poll result I did on this is rewrite is I do one chapter and post it. Will try to do 1 to 2 a week, if possible.

Rainbow Dash: Enough of this chatting. Get on with the story!

You are not even in this chapter. So hold your horses.

Pinkie Pie: Silly author, Rainbow is not a horse. She is a pony. Actually, she is a Pegasus. The fastest one in Equestria! Well, until . . . Mmph!

(A hand is keeping Pinkie's mouth closed)

No spoilers. Ok?

(Pinkie Pie nods)

Now then, onto the Story! Version 2.0.

Ever had a moment when you think you had a bad day, and it couldn't get any worse? Well, one fellow's day went to the extreme on this particular day. The day of December 21st, 2012.

This fellow's name was Smith, Bob Smith (how original). A young adult of twenty-five, standing tall at five foot, eleven inches. His body structure, you would think, was of an average working man, along with his brown hair and blue eyes. Nothing unique would make him stand out in a crowd. Bob did his normal routine of a work life where nothing special happens. He gets up, goes to work, goes home, and sleeps. Very boring. Except today.

Bob had just pulled into his workplace and saw that the entire parking lot was empty. Wondering what's going on, he pulled out his cell and called his boss.

"The person you are trying is unable to connect. All connections are currently busy. Please try your call again later." The automated female voice said from his phone.

_Huh, that's odd._ He tried another number of a fellow co-worker. Same message.

_What's going on?_ Bob turned on the radio to hear if something is going on.

"This is the Emergency Broadcast System. Major rioting is occurring in all major cities. All citizens are instructed to stay home and lock their doors. The President of the United States has declared Marshal Law until the riots have stopped." The computerize-voice on the radio says, repeating itself as a looped message.

"Well, shit. That would explain why the shop is closed," he said to himself. _Better haul ass home then. Before the riots show up here. Thank you back roads._

Bob got home with no issue in running into the military or any blocked roads. A benefit of living in the middle of nowhere. He locked the door behind him and quickly turns the TV on to a news station, wanting more info. News reporters on every station reported about riots showing up in more locations around the globe and military and police are doing their best to control them and get them to disperse.

_Why is this happening across the globe?_ He noticed the date in the lower right hand corner: 12/21/2012. _Now where do I remember that date._ It took him a few minutes, but it finally came to him like a ton of brick. The Mayan Calendar End of the World date.

Bob stumbled back and fell into the couch behind him. He couldn't believe that silly prediction was coming true. It must have been fifteen minutes before another thought entered his head. _I should contact my friends to see if they are okay._

Knowing the phones are down, he hoped the Internet didn't go down as well. Bob headed to his tech room and initialized the systems. Computer, Xbox, and PS3 came to life across his monitors. Seeing this setup, you would call him a geek, and he was proud of it.

No messages showed up on the Xbox or PS3 that those friends were online. On his computer, the Internet web pages failed to load on each one he tried. But once Skype came online, several messages waited for him.

His friends wondered the same thing, if he was alright. None were close to him as they lived in other states and countries. Bob replied to each one, informing them that he was okay and in a safe place, away from any possible riots. Each one couldn't believe how much chaos was happening everywhere. Bob was in the same boat. His final message to them was for them to stay safe and alive. They wished the same thing to him.

Bob signed off and shuts all the systems down. With what his friends chatted about near them, it wouldn't be long before the power goes out. His Boy Scout training kicked into overdrive as he felt the need to check on what supplies were in his home, planning for the worst.

Several hours passed by as he checked on everything. Once satisfied, Bob started to prep an over the shoulder emergency pack. A last resort if he had to flee his home if the riots came all the way out there. The lights started to flicker when he entered the kitchen.

"That's not good."

He turned on the small TV in there to the news. On the display, it showed an empty newsroom. The only thing was a scrolling message of the same thing he heard on the radio.

_If they have cleared out, it has really gotten worse. I'm going to need some weapons for protection._

Bob headed down to the den room in the basement. Along the fall wall, various weapons were on display behind glass doors. An ammo safe was tucked in the corner to his left. He unlocked the glass doors and started to pick out some weapons. The first ones were a pair of pistols. Next, various dagger blade styles. He placed them into another pack that was hanging on a wall. Once happy with the choices, Bob went to the safe to get enough ammo for the guns that should last him a while.

As he started to leave the den, his eyes looked over the space to see if there was anything else he should bring. He remembered his prize possession as he spotted it mounted on the wall by itself. A custom, real samurai sword. One unique thing about the pack he has, it has a special slot in the back to hold his sword. Bob placed it in it and made his way back upstairs.

Good timing too. The power just went out.

The time on his watch read a little after 1pm, Bob decided to have lunch. The only thing is, with no power, his choice was a sandwich or a sandwich. _Tough choice._

Decided on the latter one, he made a PB &amp; J one. Bob ate it as he opened the front door of his house. If you expected him to hear the sounds of the woodland animals, none of that was happening. All he could hear in the far off distance were the sirens of police, fire, and ambulance in the city, roughly 20 miles away.

Without warning, a military helicopter was flying low and buzzed over his house. "SHIT!" Bob said as he tried to cover his ears from the loud roar of the blades.

The helo headed towards the city as a couple more were following behind it. All of them were armed to the gills. Their path was the same as the first one. _It must be really bad if the military had to send in armed helicopters. I need to find out what the hell is going on._

Bob closed the front door and locked it again before heading to his computer room again. In there, he headed toward the closet and pulled out an emergency radio. Once it had enough power from turning the crank arm, he turned it on and searched for any active radio stations.

Most of the ones he knows of were now only transmitting static. Even the NPBR station was not transmitting. Bob switched to the AM stations. Nothing found on those. The only frequencies left are the Weather Band stations. He expected those to be down as well. They weren't. Each one within range transmitted the weather forecast for that area it covered. _I don't think that is useful in this time of crisis. WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!_ Bob thought as he shook the radio in frustration.

Not wanting to leave his home to find out, the only thing he can do now is sit and wait for something to happen. Fifteen minutes went by and Bob is now officially bored. He went to his emergency pack and pulled out something to occupy his time, an iPad.

(What? Did you think he was going to pull a deck of cards? It's the 21st century.)

Bob typed in his code to unlock it. He tried to decide what to do with it now, his thoughts went over the choices. _Could play some games. Nah, that would draw my attention in too much. Need to stay focused. The Internet is out as there is no connection without power. Guess I'll do some reading. Good thing I downloaded some stories last weekend._

These stories were not the books that get published and sold. What Bob referred to were fan-created by the shows they watch. The ones he had on the device are for one show in particular.

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.

Yes, he what you would call a Brony. A bro who likes Ponies.

Bob didn't share with his fellow co-workers that he likes this show. Let's face it, a dude liking a show that was made for little girls, you would think he was gay or something. But he didn't care what others thought about this. Bob knew there are millions of other Bronies like him and they care for one another.

One thing was on the back of his mind, he wondered how the others were all handling this crisis in their part of the world.

Time passed as the sun started to set on the day. With the light source going away, Bob knew he will need another source of light soon. He went into the backpack he just packed and pulled out an LED lantern. With a flick of the switch, the room was lit up once again.

He guessed on the time, and his stomach growled at him, it was dinner time. Bob brought the lantern with him to the kitchen. Still with no power, the only thing he can have was a sandwich. This time, however, it will be a HLT with mayo (that's ham, lettuce, and tomato). He made two as he wanted to fill himself up this time, unsure of what is happening in the cities around him.

With the meal now inside him, Bob turned the radio on again. He is hoped someone was broadcasting something, besides the weather. As the dial is slowly being turned, his ears concentrate on something that was not the static that was already there. The FM broadband came back with nothing. When he switched to the AM, a station started to come in as he turned the dial back.

Quickly, he adjusted the radio antenna to try and clear it up. The static was still somewhat there, but Bob could now hear whoever was transmitting.

*static*_If you are tuning in now, you MUST leave your homes if you are in the cities! The_ *static* _government has failed in getting the riots under control and have abandoned them. Any gangs in your area are now in control with military weapons. You have to_ *static* _escape with your lives if you want to live! Run NOW! I don't know how long this broadcast will last. *sounds of a door being broken down* OH NO! They're here! For the sake of our species, you must *BANG*_

Nothing but static was left now. Bob turned the radio off. Silence was left in the house, with a small hum from the lantern nearby. _Well, this country is going to shit. When the Mayans predicted the end of the world, I was thinking a natural disaster would be the cause. Nothing like this._

All of a sudden, Bob felt and heard a rumble. He went to the back windows and looked through them. Nothing coming from this side of the house. He headed towards the front and looked through a window beside the front door. His eyes saw some flickering light coming from up the street, and it was heading towards his home.

As the light sources came into view, he could see people caring fire lit torches. From the light, his eyes saw everyone carrying a semi auto rifle. They didn't appear to be military as they were not in formation, nor were wearing standard clothing and armor. Bob looked to what was following the group. His eyes grew wide as he saw what was making the rumble. They had a tank.

Bob went and turned off the lantern in the living room to reduce being spotted of being in the house. He made his way back to the window and watched the group in the street. The tank stopped in the middle between his house and the one across the street. The armed people were arguing something, but he couldn't make out what.

The tank's gun barrel began to rotate. It swung toward the other house. Once it stopped, a big bang came from it. The front door exploded from the impact. All the other people standing around began to shoot at the house. Glass was breaking and the siding was being torn to shreds from the onslaught of bullets. Once they all finished their clips, the tank turret began to rotate again.

Bob didn't need to be a physic of where it was aiming next, his house. He bolted from the front, grabbed his packs, and headed out the back into the woods. He was out of the house for only ten seconds before another bang came from the tank. He dived toward the ground and took cover. Bullets started to fly through the home of Bob, destroying everything in their path.

Bob could hear some of the bullets pass over him. All of a sudden, the house exploded in a big ball of fire. He picked his head up off the ground and turned to see the remains of his former home. The second story was no longer there. The only thing that you can see standing was some of the frameworks in the corners.

Before Bob can do anything about it, debris began to fall. A piece of his house fell and slammed into his head. This knocked him out.

Unknown time has gone by before Bob awoke with a splitting headache. Soon, pain started to come from other places on his body. He opened his eyes and saw parts of his house were covering him. Before Bob could try and lift the debris on him, he felt someone on top and they were lifting the stuff off him.

Once the piece that covered his head was off, Bob smile of joy of being saved changed when he saw who it was. It was one of the people that was with the tank. This guy's face was a mix of a Latino gang member and a merc would be the best way to describe it. Around him were the rest of his buddies.

"Well, look what we have here. I thought I saw something in that house." He said.

Someone else said, "What do you want to do with him, boss?"

"I think I will let him decide." He got close to Bob's face. "Now then, we have been killing all day and night. Instead of us deciding how to kill you, I will let you decide. We can either shoot you, or hang you. Which way do you want to die?"

Bob said with a quivering voice, "Can't you let me go and live?"

"Sadly, no. With the end of the government, we are going to create a new world order. But first, a lot of people have to die to show we mean business. So what is it going to be?"

Bob thought hard on this as it will be his last decision he would ever make. Coming to a decision, he replied, "I'll choose the bullet. But, can you do it right at midnight?"

A thug behind the boss said, "Now why would we let you choose the time?"

"I just want to know that I survived the Mayan End of the World prediction. You'll still get to kill me. I just wish to live after this day, with all the chaos that exploded from it."

The boss thought for a little bit about this request. He turned to a black dude on his right. "What time do you have? I also want the seconds." He commanded.

This guy pulled a phone out of his pants pocket and looked at it. He replied, "11:59pm and 30 seconds, boss."

The boss turned back to Bob and said, "Guess you are in luck. I can wait for 30 seconds to go by before I shoot you." He pulled out a pistol and aimed at Bob's head. "Give me a count down."

"15 . . . 14 . . . 13 . . . 12 . . . 11 . . . 10!" shouted the gang around them.

Bob stared at the end of the barrel, looking down the dark hole the bullet will soon shoot out of.

"9 . . . 8 . . . 7 . . . 6 . . . 5 . . . 4!"

"Adios, muchacho."The boss said. He pulled the hammer back on the gun.

"3 . . . 2 . . . 1!"

Bob heard a click, then everything went white.


	2. Chapter 1: Where am I?

Bob heard a click, then everything went white.

Seconds past as he expected to feel some sort of pain from being shot. He looked himself over and found no bullet wound. Bob then noticed that he was in a vast void of white.

_Is this purgatory, or is this heaven? I would have expected to see some color_ Bob thought to himself.

**"That can be arranged."** A mysterious voice said out of nowhere.

"WHO SAID THAT?!" Bob looked around to find the source.

**"Oh, come now. You were thinking of purgatory and heaven. Do you need any more hints?"**

Bob's mind started to quickly think of an answer, but what he just went through back on Earth was having an effect on coming up with something. He shook his head quickly for his response.

**"I'm the Alpha and Omega. Creator of the Earth and everything on it."**

A single word started to form in his mind, but struggled to say it. It's like it is on the tip of his tongue and doesn't want to leave his mouth.

**"Would you mind opening your mouth? I think I saw something in there."**

Bob slowly did so. He soon felt something put some pressure on his tongue. What ever it is, the thing jumped out of his mouth. It landed a few feet away. His eyes went as big and wide as possible when he saw it.

It was a grasshopper carrying a scroll on its back. If Bob wasn't in shock from being shot at, this would definitely do it.

The grasshopper pulled the scroll from its back and opened it on the pure white floor. Only three letters were on it in big characters.

GOD

Once Bob reads this, his mind went into overdrive, _Holy shit! I'm chatting with God. THE God! What do I do? What should I ask him? Shit! Shit! Shit!_

**"First off, mind cutting the swearing down? Then, take a deep breath and calm yourself. Once that is done, I think you know what you want to ask."**

"Sorry, God. Wait, were you just reading my mind?"

**"No. I didn't hear you say 'Holy shit' in your head."**

Not wanting to drag this weird discussion out further, Bob followed the God's suggestion to get his nerves under control. With his heart rate back to a normal beat, he said into the vast void, "Before we start chatting again, would you mind taking a physical form so I can see who I'm chatting with? Speaking to myself would make others think I'm crazy."

**"Not a problem. I can't reveal my true form as your mind isn't capable of handling it. Hmm, let's see. . . Ah! This one will do for the setting we are currently in. You may turn around so we can talk."**

Bob did so and saw a familiar setting. Before him were two high back cushion chairs. In one of them sat a man he recognized, Morpheus. "Yeah, I would say that would fit to where ever I'm at this time." He said as he walked up to the other chair and sat down. "Well, guess my first question is what happened to the Earth?"

**"Ahh. That Mayan date was a test to see how the human race's reaction if chaos went wild over the planet. Would they embrace it, or try to stop it by any means necessary. Sadly, chaos was the victor."**

"Then why am I here?"

**"There are those who didn't go the violent route. For those people, I'm giving them the choice to go to any world of any dimension they wish that is within my powers. You, my good lad, are one of those."**

Bob didn't know what to feel after hearing this. Should he be happy, excited, or sad about the events that occurred on his planet. He needed more answers. "What will happen to those who failed?"

**"To them, today's events never took place. They will continue to live their lives out in that timeline you came from."**

"Won't people question why thousands of people disappeared in one night?"

**"Yes, they would, if I wasn't going to leave a clone of yourself there if you choose to decide to go somewhere else and live out your dreams."** Morpheus leaned forward in the chair. **"Isn't there someplace you have always wished you could go to? Maybe to the place of where those fan fictions you read are talking about. Hmm?"**

It didn't take a second for Bob to realize where God was going. "You mean, if I choose to, I can go to Equestria?" He said with a surprised look on his face.

**"If that is what you wish. That is certainly within my power to do so, in any story or timeline you choose."'**

He couldn't believe it! This is a Brony's dream come true. All the fan fiction stories he had read popped into his head of how they entered and lived in the world. Something in the back of his head was telling him he needed something to help him in this world.

"Um, God, would it be possible to. . . get some . . . abilities? To help me there?"

God was thinking for a moment. Then said, **"I don't see why not. I have done even stranger requests. So what would you like?"**

"There are two other shows I like that are on par with My Little Pony. They are Dragonball Z and Naruto. Would it be possible to have those?"

God leaned back in his chair and had his finger tips touch each other. After some thinking, he said, **"I don't see why not. I'll give you the basic knowledge of how to use them right now. Any more advanced skill, you will have to learn yourself. I will tell you how later. For now, let's get that knowledge into you."**

God stood up from his chair. He reached into his jacket with his right hand and pulled out a silver cylinder. He pushed a button and it extended in length.

"Wait!" Bob stood up quickly and backed away a couple feet. "Isn't that a de-neuralyzer? I thought you were going to give me some knowledge? Not erase my memories!"

God started to laugh. **"I'm sorry, my attempt at some humor. No, this isn't that. Let's just call it, an in-neuralyzer. It will implant the info into your head. Although, we could . . ."** A spike from The Matrix appeared in his left hand. **"We could go with the direct approach."**

Bob quickly said, "Uh, no to the spike. I like my skull like it is."

The spike disappeared. God extended his right arm out with the device. "Now then, I'm going to also put in some barriers in your head. They are to prevent these ponies from looking at any memories you have about the show and of myself. I think you can tell when someone is looking into your mind without permission. Now, hold still."

A yellow light flashed from the device. Bob's brain started to throb as it processed the new knowledge. He was breathing hard against the restrain. Once the throbbing died down, Bob said between breaths, "Next time, warn me about the pain."

**"Sorry, it slipped my mind."** God said with a smile. **"So would you like anything else before I send you to Equestria?"**

"Yes, please. I would like to stay human there. Also can you change my clothes to a red gi with black trim and the Japanese symbol on the back for balance?"

**"Your wish is my command."**

Another yellow flash and his clothes have changed to what he has requested. Bob looked himself over, liking how it looks.

**"Have a safe journey and adventure. Watch that first step."**

"What?"


	3. Chapter 2: One Word, Ouch

Chapter 2: One Word, Ouch

**"Have a safe journey and adventure. Watch that first step."** God said.

Bob responded with, "What?"

A blinding light filled his vision. It's kinda like a flash bang, but without the bang. His vision was obscured because of this. As he tried to get them refocused, his body started to feel moving air all around him.

The spots in his eyes soon faded away. This allowed Bob to see where he was placed. He could tell it was night time as the stars and the moon were out. His senses began to warn him about something. The wind was blowing upward on his body. Bob looked down and he didn't like what he saw. He was falling, without style.

"SSSSSHHHHHHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTT!" Was all that came out his screaming mouth for thirty seconds. Bob's brain was working on overdrive from the fear and adrenaline that was coursing through his veins. He tried to think of something that could save him. Nothing was coming at first, then he remembered that God gave him some abilities.

Bob tried to think of flying from DBZ, but nothing was coming, No basic jutsu would be able to save him from this. The last option that might work are energy balls. _Come on. Work dammit! Work!_ he screamed into his mind and body to produce the results.

A warm feeling began to emit from his right hand. Bob concentrated on trying to form a sphere of the energy gathering there. It started small, but soon grew to the size of a baseball. He was filled with joy that he made it, but soon realized the ground was approaching fast.

Bob saw some sort of a river was close to being below him. He twisted his body to best align him with it. The energy ball was still floating in his right hand. With about fifteen seconds from impact. Bob launched it to the water below. It made contact with the water and exploded. He shifted his body to a shallow dive position and braced for impact.

Contact.

The force of hitting the water knocked Bob out. He couldn't tell how long he was out, but wished he wasn't dead already. The pain was starting to throb from his limbs _Ow. Hate the pain, but at least that should mean I'm not dead_. A sharp pain was now coming from the chest. It felt like someone was hitting it with a big hammer. He soon felt himself spitting out water.

Bob tried to see what was going on. His vision was blurry. Before he could focus, he blacked out again.

The next time Bob was able to wake up, he saw he was in a building. The pain from his limbs was still somewhat there, but not as severe as before. He looked around to see where he was. His eyes saw that he was lying on a cot in a room that looks like it was made from a tree. _I must be in Twilight's house._

His ears began to pick up on some voices upstairs. Bob focused on the sounds to try and determine who was up there. The first voice he recognized was Rainbow Dash talking. She shouted, "That thing should be locked in chains! It could be dangerous!"

_I must be the thing she was referring to._ Bob made a small laugh, quietly, but quickly stopped as the pain started to come from his chest. He also noticed his left arm and right leg were in a cast. _I don't think chains would be necessary as I can hardly move right now._ He continued to pay attention to the voices up stairs.

"Dash, you saw how it is. It was severely injured. The injuries show signs that it fell from a great distance." said Twilight Sparkle.

"I agree with Twi, sugarcube. Besides those casts on him, they'll prevent it from going anywhere for a while anyway." said Applejack.

"I still think a chain from the bed to a leg should be done to protect everypony, just in case." said Rainbow.

_That's your typical Rainbow Dash. She sees almost any strange creatures as a threat. Such loyalty to her friends just to protect them._ Bob looked around the room some more. He soon spots the bags he packed back on Earth. They were leaning against the wall with the sword next to them. _It appears they have not gone into the bags. Who knows what would happen if they messed with what's inside._ A sharp pain from his leg hit him hard. It caused Bob to shout from the intensity of it.

"I think it is waking up. Let's go check on it." said Twilight.

Bob quickly laid back down and closed my eyes. He soon heard the door open upstairs. The sounds of several hooves hitting wood started at the top of the stairs. They were getting closer. He did his best to stay perfectly still. Bob was acting that he was sleeping, even though the pain coming from his limbs was coming back.

"It appears to still be asleep, sugarcube. But I reckon that look on its mug means that it's in pain." said Applejack.

"I will perform the spell again to dull the pain away so it can rest peacefully." said Twilight.

Her horn started to glow. Bob could feel warmth entering his body, causing the pain to subside. Without warning. A hyper voice from the top of the stairs came rushing down as it spoke.

"Twilightwhydidyounottellmeanewponyhascometotown. Mypinkiesencehasbeengoingoffsayingsomethingstrangandnewhascometotown!" said Pinkie Pie in her hyper state.

She then did something that Bob hoped she wasn't going to do. But she did it anyways. Pinkie Pie jumped onto Bob. It caused the pain to come back, tenfold. Bob launched his body to sitting position from the pain. It also caused him to knock Pinkie off. He held onto his chest with his right hand from the pain.

Bob looked to where the girls were standing. Seeing them for the first time in person, they looked exactly like on the TV show. They started to back away from Bob as to what Pinkie caused.

"Pinkie, why in Equestria did you jump on it? Couldn't you could see it was injured and asleep?" said Twilight.

Pinkie Pie replied, "It wasn't asleep, silly."

"Why do you think it was not asleep?"

"My pinky sense told me."

_Great, can't fool her when I fake sleep._ Bob finally noticed that the entire mane six were there. Rarity hasn't done any talking that he heard. It was probably because she was looking at the clothes Bob was wearing. It was either to determine if they were beautiful or horrid. Fluttershy might have talked while up there, but Bob couldn't tell as her voice would have been too quiet.

Twilight stepped forward and said, "Hello, my name is Twilight Sparkle. Are you able to understand me?"

Bob nodded my head.

"What is your name?"

He replied with "Bob."

"Bob?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"You said it backwards." he told her. That got a chuckle out of Applejack. Rainbow acted like she wasn't amused being caught on that joke.

Bob already knew their names, but since he didn't want to reveal how he knew, ignorance would be an ally. "So what are everyone's names, seeing as how we are introducing ourselves?"

Applejack went first, "Howdy partner. Names Applejack. I own an apple farm down the road named Sweet Apple Acres. The best apples on this side of Equestria!"

Rainbow Dash quickly went next, "Name's Rainbow Dash! Fastest flyer in all of Equestria and future team member of the Wonderbolts!"

Up next was Rarity, "Hello darling. You may call me Rarity. I must say your clothes are dreadful. Come by my shop when you are better and let me design you something better to suit your style."

Pinkie Pie jumps in close and starts talking, "Hithere. I'mPinkiePie. Sorryforjumpingonyou. Ijustcouldn'twaitforyoutowakeupandmeetyou! Doyoulikeparties? ILOVEPARTIES! . . ." Bob had his right hand over her mouth to stop her from rambling on.

"Please, Pinkie. Can you slow down your talking speed and allow me to answer your questions? My body is already injured. I don't want my head getting a headache from trying to process all you are saying. I shall answer questions once I get to meet everyone."

"Everypony." Twilight corrected.

"Huh?"

"You said everyone. The correct way to say is everypony."

Bob rolled his eyes for being corrected when he already knew the correct way to say it.

Twilight restarted the introducing, "Ahem, as I said before, my name is Twilight Sparkle and I run the library above us. I'm also the personal student of Princess Celestia."

Last one to go was Fluttershy. She was currently hiding behind Applejack, shaking, scared, and trying not to look at me. Applejack decides to speak for her, "The pony behind me is Fluttershy. She takes care of lots of woodland creatures that come out of the Everfree forest. She also has a tendency to be scared of lots of things."

Bob decided to try and comfort her by talking calm and smooth, "It's ok Fluttershy, You do not have to be afraid of me. I know I look strange, seeing you probably never seen a creature like me. I promise you, I will never harm you, your friends, or any creature that is under your care."

She poked her head from behind Applejack and put on a big smile. "May I ask what species are you, if you don't mind?" She asked softly.

"I would more than happy to. But, can we do this a little different than usual. I too have several questions that are popping into my head. What we can do, is go back and forth asking questions and answering them." Bob looked at Pinkie Pie. "And please, only ask one at a time so I can answer them if I can."

Twilight's eyes grew bigger than normal. Probably knowing that she is going to be learning about a species unknown to her. She ran quickly upstairs to grab the stuff she will need to write all this down. She was back down, in the basement, in ten seconds flat. Rainbow Dash was impressed with the speed she showed. Twilight Sparkle then realized that somepony else should also be here, her mentor Princess Celestia. She shouted up the stairs, "SPIKE!"

Bob's ears were ringing from the big shout from the pony. As the ringing died down, he soon heard something else coming down the stairs. He knew who it was, but Bob was a little excited was going to see a dragon in real life. He didn't care that Spike is still considered a baby dragon.

Halfway on the stairs, the dragon looked at him and asked Twilight, "Um, Twi? Why isn't that thing down there and not chained?"

"Spike! Behave, please. Can't you see it is injured?" Twilight took a quick sigh. "We are about to ask it questions. I would like you to send a letter to the Princess telling her the situation. Also, to invite her to hear what it has to say. Finally, to get her opinion of the creature."

"Right away, Twilight!" said Spike. He pulled a letter and a quill from behind him and wrote out the letter. He rolled it up and breathed his magic fire that will transport it directly to the Princess.

While they waited, Bob began to think, _I am overfilled with joy knowing exactly where I am and who I am with!_ Then something popped into Bob's head. The Princess of the day was on her way. He hoped those barriers will hold if she decided to peak in. Still with no one talking, Bob decided to recall exactly what abilities and jutsu that he could do right now. Minutes passed. He opened his eyes again and noticed that all of them were looking at him with confused looks. "What is everypony looking at?" Bob asked.

Rarity spoke up, "Well, Twilight and I noticed a strange aura around you when you closed your eyes. You mind telling us what that was?"

"Um, well, seeing we are waiting for another guest to show up, I decided to meditate and gather my thoughts."_Hope they believe that._

Applejack was giving me a strange look. Bob quickly thought, _Shit! Her honesty might be seeing through that lie. Better lean more truthful to stay under her lie detecting radar._

Bob began to try and scratch an itch under his arm cast.

Fluttershy quickly said, in a more audible level, "I'm so sorry! I did not realize they were causing you discomfort."

Bob replied, "It's no problem Fluttershy. You could not have known, as I was unconscious. I do appreciate that you have made sure to set the bones into the sockets before wrapping them in a cast."

Fluttershy blushed a little bit from the compliment. "I did my best as I didn't know what creature you are. My best guess is that you are close to a monkey in structure. Is there anywhere else that you are hurting?"

"Now that you mention it, I think one or few of my ribs are either bruised or broken. But I don't think they have punctured my lung."

Fluttershy walked up to where Bob was sitting on the cot, She reached a hoof up to my chest, but stopped before touching. "Um, may I? If you don't mind." She asked. Bob nodded to her as he lifted his arms out of the way as best as he could. Her hoof finished moving the distance to his body. It moved around where all the ribs were located. Bob winced in pain when it touched one of the injured ribs. "None of them don't feel broken. But we should get you to a proper doctor to get checked and healed."

"Thank you, Fluttershy. I just don't know how any doctor could help if none of you have seen my species." said Bob.

Spike let out a belch from nowhere and a scroll appeared. Twilight lifted it up with her magic and opened it. After a quick read, Twilight said, "The Princess said she will be here in a few seconds with her sister, Princess Luna, as well."

In the middle of the room a bright flash filled the room. Everypony else had prepared themselves for that. Bob, again, started to see things in his vision from staring at it.

In the middle of the room, where the flash started, stood Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. They were wearing their royal crowns and accessories. Behind them, stood six Royal Guards, with their weapons drawn and pointed at Bob. Everypony kneeled down before them. Bob remained in the cot as a leg was still in a cast. But he bowed his head instead.

"Everypony may arise. That too includes you, human." Celestia said.


	4. Chapter 3: 20 Questions anypony?

Chapter 3: Do You Want To Play Twenty Questions?

"Everypony may rise. That also includes you, human." Princess Celestia said.

All the girls were shocked that the Princess knew what species Bob was. Still playing the idiot card, he had to choose his words carefully. "May I be the first to ask the question as to how you know my species?" he asked.

"Where are my manners, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Princess Celestia. This here is my younger sister, Princess Luna." Luna bowed her head, but did not say a word.

"You will have to forgive my sister," Celestia cleared her throat. "She just came back from a long journey and hasn't fully adjusted being back yet. Now, as to your question. You are not the first human to show up in Equestria. I remember that there used to be thousands of your kind in this area. It seems roughly a thousand years have past since I last saw one."

_Woah. Humans used to be here? I need more info about this._ "Hmm, that must explain where some of our myths about Pegasus and Unicorns came from. One thing they never mentioned in them is that they had the ability to speak and be understood."

"HEY!" Rainbow Dash barged into the chat. Her muzzle was directly in front of Bob's face. "What do you mean we can't speak? Explain yourself!"

Rainbow was pulled back by her tail by Applejack. "Now hold it, Rainbow Dash." said the orange earth pony. "I don't think the feller meant any disrespect. Did ya . . . um . . . what's your name again, sugarcube?"

Bob smiled and said, "It's Bob. Also, let me clarify that I'm a guy, dude, bro, or male to whatever you call in your species. That way you can stop referring to me as "it"." He did his best to do the in air quote marks, but no pony understood the gesture. "And Rainbow Dash, I didn't mean anything bad. Myths and legends tend to lose some of the finer details about them. I don't know as I didn't learn to become an historian. Now, what were we talking about?"

Twilight politely said, "Um, excuse me Princess, but I don't recall seeing any notation in my books that described a creature like this. How do you know what, HE, is?"

"Well, Twilight, it has been so long since the last human was here. They have become myths to us as we are to them. As to why they are not in any books, I believe they were lost at some point in history." said Princess Celestia.

Bob's thoughts began to wonder about that. _I have a feeling the Princess is hiding something. She knows more than she is leading on. Mental note, ask the Princess as to why there are no more humans here._ The human felt something going off in his head. Kinda like a spider sense, but more like someone is trying to poke into his mind. He looked over to Princess Celestia, her wings had pop opened stiff. Her eyes grew very big as she tried to clear something from her throat. Bob decided to try something, _If this is you, Princess Celestia, nod your head._ Bob said in his mind.

The white alicorn did a small nod, then looked at the human, _Ahem, I was never expecting that type of barrier protection in a mind. Why would someone put that up as a first barrier?_ She asked in Bob's mind.

Bob replied _I didn't place that barrier. It was the God most humans believe in that placed that in my mind. I didn't know what it is. All I was told is that it would help identify who is trying to look into my head. What did you see?_

The Princess let out a tiny blush on her cheeks. _Well, I can say it is effective. But why would your God want to place that in your head?_

_He did it to protect myself as well as your kingdom. There are some things in my mind that no one should know about where I come from. I think, it might be possible, for me to allow you pass them by acting as an escort of sorts. Would that be acceptable?_

_Yes. I believe that should be. I am sorry for trying to read your mind without permission. I should know better than to poke into others' minds. I only did it as I fear for my subject's safety when a possible old threat comes back._

_It is alright, your highness._ Bob did a quick look at the other ponies in the room. _I think we should get back to answering questions that everypony can hear._

She nods again and they break the link. Bob looked at everypony and asked, "So, who has a question for me?"

Twilight shot her hoof up in the air like she was back in a classroom.

"Yes, Twilight?"

"Can you please tell us a bit about yourself?"

"That would make sense to do that and would answer several questions you all probably have. As you all know now, my species is called human. I am male, age twenty-five, and I come from a world where magic does not exist." Twilight was about to say something, but Bob stopped her. "Please, Twilight. Let me finish giving my brief history and it will probably answer the questions you are thinking of wanting to ask."

She nodded and kept her muzzle closed. Bob continued to tell his tale. "The world I am from is called Earth; we are the major species on the planet. As I said before, we don't have magic. We survive and grew with science and technology. There are so many things that happened over the past century that we now have devices that allow us to store an entire library collection on a single device."

"I don't believe it. Nothing like that could ever exist." Twilight interrupted.

"I can actually prove that right now. I have a device like that in my bag over there." Bob was about to get up, but the pain from his fall was returning. He sat back down, slowly. His head turned towards Princess Celestia. "Um, your highness, would you happen to know of a spell, or something, to heal myself. I kinda had a rough landing when I arrived." Bob said with a weak smile. "These, um, ponies did their best to heal me with no knowledge about my body structure."

Celestia smiled and said, "I think I know of a spell that will mend your injuries. Now, hold still, this will either tingle, or cause some pain."

The human nodded and braced himself. The Princess lowered her horn a bit. It started to emit a yellow glow. Bob could feel something was happening to his body. Different spots were tingling. As he was enjoying it, the sensation was interrupted by a sharp pain in his chest, around his ribs. The human reacted to the pain as he scrunched his face, to avoid screaming. _Guess I did have broken ribs. Wish I had some morphine to numb the pain._

_Oh, you wanted me to dull your nerves BEFORE I set the bones? My bad._ Celestia said in Bob's mind, with a smile on her face.

_Is this payback for what ever that barrier is in my head?_ Bob heard a humming tune in his head. Just before Celestia popped another rib back into place. Again, the pain was intense for a second. But he did not let out a scream from it.

Once everything was healed inside of Bob, the cast on his arm and leg disappeared. He stood slowly in front of the cot. Being stiff as a board for who knows how long, the human did some simple stretches of his limbs, causing some to emit a pop from some of his joints.

Bob was about to move to his back, but the guards still had their spears pointed at him. "If it would also be possible, can you please ask your guards to lower their weapons? They are making me a little nervous thinking they are going to strike me without cause." He asked the Princess.

She nodded and told them to stand down. They put their weapons away, but some still had the scary look toward the human. Bob headed to his first backpack and pulled out his iPad. He displayed it in his hands as he said, "This is one the latest achievements my people have created. It is a tablet based computer that allows us to access any information we want at the touch of our hand." He then looked towards the purple unicorn, "Twilight, later on, I will show you how to operate it as long as you ask permission to use it."

She shook her head up and down. Her face was that of excitement as she clapped her front hooves together. Bob barely heard a pony said 'egghead'. He didn't know who, but it came from one of the guards. The human carried the iPad back with him as he sat back on the cot to continue to tell his tale.

"Some of the other things that technology has allowed us to do are create transportation machines that don't require horses to pull us around. Finally, we have machines that give us the ability to go fast through the air."

"I'll believe that when I see it." said Dash.

_Guess its time for a demonstration._ From the ponies perspective, Bob started to touch the tablet with those little things at the end of his front hooves. He was tapping them at a quick pace. Once ready, the human turned the device around and show them. "This is one of the many creations that allow us to do that. It is called an airplane and it comes in all sorts of sizes and uses. From small personal ones to ones like this that can transport hundreds of humans or several tons of cargo half the way around the world. We also have another that is used by the government's military. Those types are only designed to hold one to two humans. But the neat thing about them is the speed they can travel I'm talking about supersonic speeds. I know they could do at least 4 times the speed of sound."

"NO WAY! I'm the fastest flyer and I barely break the sound barrier once!" Dash shouts out.

"I'm impressed that you can do that without something protecting you. But, seeing we have no way to fly by ourselves, it is these machines that granted us that ability and protect us at the same time." Bob looked around the group as he turned off the screen. "So, who is next with a question?"

Fluttershy quietly asked, "Um, if you don't mind, can you explain how you got those injuries?"

"I had a feeling this was going to come up. Well, you probably have some scary stories of creatures coming from another world. They come down in a spinning metal disc?" Bob questioned them, hoping for a response.

"I've read about those in comic books!" said Spike. "Some show the aliens have taken ponies so they can probe them. Others are eating the ponies BRAINS!" He said with such enthusiasm. "But I never know what probe means. There are never any panels showing the process."

"Spike!" Twilight said with a stern voice. "I told you that those comics are bad for you. There is nothing educational within them. Plus, some can give you nightmares."

Spike had a sad face from being scolded by Twilight about his comic books again.

After a moment had passed, Bob said, "Well, you can classify me as an alien. But I didn't arrive in a flying device. My method of travel wasn't my choice. Falling from above the clouds to your doom is never fun."

Twilight, with a surprised look, said, "How in Equestria did you manage to survive a fall from that height? Also, how did you even get up there?"

Bob let out a quick chuckle, then said, "Let's just say, a super being is the cause of me falling from that height. But, also gave me the knowledge and abilities that helped me survive, barely. Now then, how did you find me?"

"I heard a big explosion from the river. Then I saw water flying higher than my apple trees." said Applejack. "I called out for Rainbow to come with me to check it out."

Rainbow Dash said with pride in her voice, "I got to the river first."

"That's because you used your wings."

"I'm a Pegasus. It's only natural for me to fly. I AM the fastest flyer in Equestria."

Applejack rolled her eyes. "Anyways, when we arrived at the banks of the river, we saw something floating down river."

"I flew over to it and saw you, bruised and bleeding. So, I grabbed your hoof and dragged you to where Applejack was standing."

"Once you were on dry land, I checked if you were breathing. You weren't. So I raised my fore hooves and stamped hard on your chest."

"You spat water out so high, like a fountain. It was hilarious!"

"You did start breathing again, sugarcube. But you still looked seriously hurt. I had Rainbow Dash fly to fetch Fluttershy while I took you on my back to Twilight's home/library. I was guessin' one of them could fix ya right up."

"Thanks for the rescue and emergency care that you were able to provide." said Bob, with a smile. "Just a small suggestion for next time," He raised a hand up and left a tiny space between the thumb and index finger. "Please don't stamp on my ribs when trying to get me breathing again. I think I was lucky that you only had fractured them. It could have been worse if you broke one right into my lungs. That will be harder to fix."

"Sorry about that, I sometimes forget my own strength. I can buck all the apples of a tree with one kick. So how did ya manage to save yourself from a fall like that without one of them machine contraptions?"

"I figured that was going to be the next question. Remember when I said that a super being gave me some knowledge to do certain abilities?" Bob looked around and saw all the ponies nodding their heads. "Well, I had to break the water's surface before hitting it, if I wanted to survive. So I sent a bigger version of this down to create the explosion in the water."

The human had his right index finger pointing up, while the others were in a fist. He concentrated on pulling the energy to his finger to create a pea size energy orb. It took a while, but a small yellow orb was floating above his finger. Bob pulled the energy back in, then took a couple deep breaths from exhaustion.

"I'm still getting the hang of it."

Pinkie quickly said, "Oh! Oh! Oh! What other nifty things can you do?" Her smile was as big as ever as she looked at Bob with her big eyes.

"Well, I haven't tried these yet, but some of them are cool." Bob had a smile on his face as a funny idea popped into his head. "Pinkie, seeing you asked to see one, can you come here and stand next to me?"

She hopped over Rarity and spun herself around in mid air. Every creature waited for the human to do something. In his mind it was thinking, _Please, please, please! Let this work the first time!_ Bob recalled the new knowledge for the skill he wanted to perform. Once ready, the human hands came together in some pattern as he shouted, "Transform!"

A puff of smoke enclosed Bob and Pinkie. When it dissipated a few seconds later, everyone else in the no saw there were two Pinkie Pies and no human. They were surprised by what happened, including Pinkie. Bob mimicked her movements so they looked the same.

"So, who is the real Pinkie?" Spike asked.

They both said, "I am!" in the exact same voice. No one could tell them apart as the voice was another exact match.

Bob decided that the fun was over now. He released the Ninjutsu to return to his original form. "Did everyone enjoy that?" he asked.

"That was very impressive, Bob. Are there others on your planet that can do that?" Princess Celestia asked.

"No, they can't. The only place humans could think of doing something like that is in their dreams. Now then, I have another question." Bob already knew the answer, but he still had to ask to draw suspicion. "I noticed that all the ponies in the room have a tattoo on your rear ends. Can someone please explain why?"

They all laughed at the human for asking that. Twilight decided to answer this one, "Well, I don't know what a tattoo is, but what is on everypony's flank is their cutie mark. It symbolized our special talent in what we can do. When we are born, we have a blank flank and we get to enjoy the wonder of discovering what our special talent is as we grow up. Don't humans have cutie marks?"

"Sorry Twilight, but no human never gets a mysterious mark on their butt. Unless they get so drunk that they forget what they did the night before." Bob said with a laugh. He cleared his throat, then said, "To explain what a tattoo is this. To us, it's a design we choose to place somewhere on our body showing what we love or to look cool. Some may get one tattoo for the experience while some others can get so many, that they cover their entire body. I am one of those people who choose not to get one because it's a little painful process."

"Then how do you find out what your special talent is?"

"In truth, most humans don't find out. We educate ourselves to do the jobs we get hired to do. That way we can pay bills and to put food on the table. I would have to guess that most humans don't like the job they are doing, but like the pay it gives. There are others that do love the job they get hired to do. Finally, there are also some humans that find themselves having a wide range of skills they are good at. I think I am one of those."

"Why do you think that, darling?" Rarity asked.

"Well, for my job, it involved fixing certain equipment sometimes. Also, being able to find the problem with most small machine types and fix them. Lastly, I'm quick to pick up on learning new skills through visual and hands on exercises."

"That is really amazing! I am the same way with my magic. I can do so many spells while other unicorns can only do a certain amount based upon their special talent. I too don't like to show off that I can do that. Plus, I like to use it to protect my friends." Twilight said.

"Hmm, I want to try and guess your special talents now that I know what those cutie marks stand for. Please don't hesitate to correct me if I am wrong." _I know I'm going to nail this on the head. This is going to be so much fun._ "Let's see, well Twilight already stated she is good with lots of different magic so that must be what her special talent is."

Bob turned his head to the next pony. "Rarity, based upon you wanting to make clothes for me and those diamonds for a cutie mark. I would have to say you make the precise and beautiful clothing of this land." Rarity started to shed a tear.

"Now for Applejack, you said you work and own an apple farm. Your own name has the word apple in it. It's very clear that working with apples is strong within you. You must be very proud to produce the best apples that everyone loves." Applejack started to blush.

"Pinkie Pie, with those balloons and your high amounts energy, you must throw the best parties for any event and make everyone smile." Pinkie smiled so big, it looked like it was about to come off her face.

"For Rainbow Dash, the Pegasus with a rainbow lightning bolt as a cutie mark, I take it when you do break the sound barrier, a rainbow trail might form behind you. Plus, you are the fastest creature I have ever known."

"Heck yeah!" Rainbow yells.

"Finally, for you Fluttershy, from what Applejack said about you how well you did to take care of my injuries, I would have to say that your special talent must lie in knowing how to take care of any creature you come across. You have the care creatures like, the ability to heal most injuries they might get, and you maybe be possible to be able to communicate with them on a different level compared to the rest of us. I would like to thank you again for taking care of my injuries when no one else knew anything about me at that time."

Fluttershy was so moved at the compliment, she came over to Bob and gave him a hug. Everypony awed at this scene. The human started to stroke her mane with his fingers. She said, "You're most welcome, and do come by my place if you need anything." She then returned to sit back down with everyone else.

Before the next pony could ask a question, they all heard a loud rumble coming from the human. "Sorry about that. I guess my stomach is trying to tell me to go and get some food. Would you mind if we take a break to get some?"

"Not at all." Twilight said. "Although we should find out what you can eat so we don't poison you."

"Yeah, no one likes to get poisoned. From my early school days, I seem to recall that ponies are herbivores. It's where you mostly eat plant type foods, correct?" Twilight and several others nodded their heads in response.

Bob held his hands in front of him. The palms of the hands were facing the ponies and were just barely beyond his chest. He said, calmly, "Now them, please don't be afraid with what I am about to tell you. Humans do eat certain plants, but we also have teeth designed to eat meat. We're omnivores" All the girl ponies raised their hooves to their mouths in shock. Rarity did her faint thing again onto the couch. The guards raised their weapons at the human with serious looks on their muzzles. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna remained sitting, with no shocked look on their faces. Spike only had a confused look on his.

Bob pushed his hands further away from him as he shouted, "Hold it! Let me make it perfectly clear, I would never eat a pony, a talking creature, or woodland creature that is friendly." He looked directly at both Princesses to wait for their response.

Princess Celestia told the guards to stand down once again. With everypony calming back down, or regaining conscious again, Bob lowered his arms back to his sides to continue explaining. "I will still need to take in protein to keep my muscle strength up. For that, I do know of other foods that I can eat to reduce the normal meat intake. Even to almost nothing if need be. Some of foods that are high proteins are cheeses, beans, eggs, and peanuts. The other food groups I have no trouble eating. Some of the things humans can't digest are hay and flowers." He looked at each one as he finished by saying, "Please don't be afraid of me because I can eat meat."

"Of course not, sugarcube. You just startled us when you said you ate meat. We won't think anything bad of you for what is natural for humans to do." Applejack said.

"Um, if you want, if you don't mind, I could give you some fish I have for the animals I take care of." Fluttershy said.

"I would appreciate that, and thank you again. Now then, can we head upstairs and grab a bite to eat before I faint from hunger?" asked Bob.

They all nodded and started to walk up the stairs. Spike and Twilight headed into the kitchen to gather some food. Everyone else got comfortable in different places in the library. The guards are still keeping an eye on the human, in case he makes a move. A few minutes later, Twilight and Spike came out. Twilight used her magic to levitate several plates of food.

The one that came to Bob had cut up fruits and veggies on it. On the other plates, there was some type of sandwich with a side of hay. The human took a bite of a fruit. His eyes went wide as he continued to chew down everything on the plate. He thought, _I couldn't believe how fresh and tasty these all are. These tastes like they were just picked less than an hour ago._

Bob quickly finished the meal as everyone else did at the same time. "Thank you for the food. I never had anything that tasted so good like that. Most of the fruits and veggies humans get come from the store. That takes at least a day or two to get there. These taste like they were picked just an hour ago."

"They were. I got them from the market this afternoon. Good thing, too. I wasn't expecting any company tonight." Twilight said.

"Well then, my compliments to you for picking them, and to the farmers for growing such fresh food." Bob placed his hands on his stomach and said, "Shall we get back to questioning?" Everyone nodded. "Let me go first as I have one for the Princesses. I know about Unicorns and Pegasus from myths and legends, but I never read about a horse type creature with a horn and wings. Can you please enlighten me about yourselves?"

Princess Celestia spoke up, "My sister and I are called Alicorns. As of right now, there are only three in existence in all of Equestria. They are myself, my sister Luna, and our niece, Princess Cadance. The thing that is unique about us, besides having a horn and wings, is that we are immortal."

"So, that explains how you recognized my species. You were there when they last were here. Let me just say that you and your sister are still as beautiful." They both blush from the compliment. Bob turned his head to the others and asked, "So, who next has a question?"

Pinkie jumped up from where she was sitting and asked, "What are those things at the end of your hooves? They look like what Spike has, except they are not sharp."

"Well, first off, these are not hooves, they are called hands. At the end of them are called fingers. They allow us humans to grab things as well as other things. They don't need to be sharp to do damage. The same goes with my feet." Bob took one of his shoes and socks to show off. "As you can see the foot also has thing at the end of them. They are called toes. The only thing is they are not as flexible as the fingers on my hands." He flexed both of them so show what they can do.

Bob had put the sock and shoe back on. Soon after, he let out a big yawn and stretched out his arms. "If it's alright with everypony, I would like to hold off the questions for the time as I am getting exhausted. Would it be possible to explore your town in the morning?"

"I agree on holding the questions back for now. I need to organize all these notes I have taken." Twilight said. Bob saw a stack about one hundred pages of notes she had taken. "As for the tour, I don't know how the other ponies will react to you just walking around."

"In a few days, I will make an announcement of your arrival to the town so you don't scare anypony. For now, my sister and I need to return to Canterlot to attend to some royal duties. If you would like to contact us at any time, just have Spike send us a letter. I bid you all farewell and look forward to learning more about you." Princess Celestia said. Everyone bowed to her. She used her magic to teleport her, her sister, and the Royal Guard out of the library in another big bright light.

"I have to get going as well. I have several dress orders due tomorrow and need to get back to them." said Rarity. She then headed out the library.

"I've got to get back to the farm. I have to help Big Mac, my brother, buck the apple trees in the north field." said Applejack. She too made her way out.

"I have weather duties I need to attend to." said Rainbow Dash. She flew out the door.

Fluttershy said, "I need to get back to my cottage and take care of the animals. A bear has been complaining of back pains." She trotted out and closed the door.

Bob looked for Pinkie Pie and couldn't find here. "Where's Pinkie?" he asked.

"Probably ran off to take care of a party." Twilight said.

"But I did not hear her leave. Does she have ninja skills?"

"No. She is just being Pinkie."

"Well, it looks like you get the honor to show me around in the morning."

"Wait! You can't go out there looking as yourself. Why don't you use that thing you did to change into another pony?"

"It does not work like that. I can't think of a random pony design out of the blue. I have to use another pony's look and copy that. Do you have a spell that can change me into a pony, temporarily?"

"I think I do. It will take some time to find the book that might have it. How about you go and lay down in the cot in the basement as I start my search."

"Sounds good. Good night, Twilight Sparkle. Good night, Spike. See you in the morning." said Bob. He made his way back down to the basement and crashed onto the cot with a smile on his face.

Bob was awakened by a voice shouting, "Found it!" He crawled out of the cot, stretched, then made his way back to the main floor. Once the human was there, he saw most of the books that were on the shelves were now spread out in various stacks on the floor.

"Spike, would you be a dear and put the books away as I help Bob with this?" said Twilight.

Spike looks frustrated by how big of a mess she can make. Twilight's eyes were scanning the book in front of her that she was also levitating. "Let's see, the spell is temporary and will last for two days. It also says that it does not have the control in which pony type they will be turned into. You ready for this?"


	5. Chapter 4: It's Pony Time

Chapter 4: It's Pony Time

"Bob, are you ready to be changed into a pony, knowing that you will be in that form for two days?" Twilight asked.

Bob responded, "I'm sure. Being cooped up here, waiting for the Princess to get back to introduce me to the town, isn't my ideal way of spending my time. I will get bored."

"Bored!? How can you get bored with all of these wonderful books." Twilight gestured to the collection of books in the room. The same books that Spike was working on putting away after her search for the spell.

"Books may be your thing, but they're not mine. Can we proceed with this?"

The Unicorn nodded her head. She looked back to the book to read the spell one more time. Twilight wanted to make sure she knew what to do. Her horn started to glow. The body of the human was soon enclosed in the same color from her horn. He started to feel his body changing. The skin felt like it was boiling, and the bones twisted and rearranged to that of a pony. The pain was nothing Bob had ever felt before.

Twilight heard the human cry out in pain. She was about to try and reverse the spell, but Bob then shouted to her to not stop. The Unicorn nodded and continue to channel her magic into the transformation. Without warning, a bright flash came from the orb that surrounded the human. The spell had finished.

Twilight Sparkle felt exhausted by channelling all that mana into the spell. With tired eyes, she looked over to where Bob was last at. Instead of the human body, she saw a deep red coat earth pony with a two tone black mane and tail lying on the floor. His eyes were closed from being knocked out from the spell and pain.

The Unicorn checked the other ponies' vitals with a simple spell. All was good. She let out a big yawn and looked at Spike. "I'm going to bed, Spike. That spell was a doozy. Please wake me when he wakes up. Should be in a couple hours." She said.

"Sure thing Twi." replied Spike. Under his breath, he said to himself, "That should allow me enough time to get these books back on the shelves. At least until she does another bout of research all through the night."

In the unconscious mind of Bob, he find himself in the white space again. "Great, I'm dead again. Nice job, idiot." Bob said.

"**No, you are not dead. You are just in your mind. A little space I set up for you to do some training,"** said God.

"Is this going to be like The Matrix training?"

"**No, I told you will have to work for the knowledge. Turn around so we can begin."**

Bob did so. In front of him, stood Master Roshi. He was wearing his Hawaiian shirt and dark shades. He chuckled at the sight. "So, I take I'm going to learn some fighting techniques?"

"**You are correct, my boy. Have to start with the basics before you can learn the hard stuff."**

Bob bowed to him and said, "I'm ready, master."

Hours had passed before Bob came out of his mind training and come back to the real world. "Ow. Why does my body ache all over?" He said to himself. _Oh yeah, Twilight turned me into a pony. Ninjutsu transformation didn't hurt at all. Well, that is just an illusion. This is real. Ow._ The former human tried to rub his head with his hand. Instead, he hit himself with his new hoof.

His new ears picked up the sounds of a pony quickly coming down the stairs. Twilight came over to Bob where he was still laying on the floor. She walked around him as the Unicorn looked over the result of the transformation.

"I take it that the spell worked, Twilight?" asked Bob.

She nodded with a smile. Her horn lit up as a mirror was levitated over. "Take a look yourself." she said.

Bob looked into it. He too, was impressed. The color of his eyes was a red, purple color mix. The hair, or should be called a mane now, was now black. The coat fur on his pony body was red. He turned his head to look at his flank. Bob was wondering if and what kind of a cutie mark he would have. Sure enough, there was one there. It was the yin and yang symbol. _I was hoping it was going to be that. With me learning stuff from those two animes, what could be more perfect?_

Twilight Sparkle saw the former human smile when he saw his cutie mark. She asked him, "Would you mind telling me what that cutie mark stands for? I have a feeling you know with that grin on your face."

"It's true, Twilight. I do know what this stands for, and I am happy to receive it. It is called the yin and yang symbol. What it stands for is mostly about balance. That could be anything. From the sun and the moon, good and evil, harmony and chaos, and right and wrong. Everything needs to be in balance, not just the body and mind, but everything in nature and in space. I held on to this belief since I was a child."

"That is something very good and pure to believe in. Don't ever lose it."

"I don't plan to. One good thing about this now, I have my own pony form I can change into after this spell wears off."

Twilight asked with a confused look, "How is that possible? I thought you need to see what you are going to change into to make it work."

"Most of the time, yes. That would be if I was going to change into a pony, a creature, or an object. But with this, I can use my mind's eye to recall what this new body looks like to transform into. I would try to demonstrate it now, but I can form the symbols with these hooves."

"This is all interesting, but let's get you up so I can show you around Ponyville."

"I agree. Let's get going." Bob wobbled as he tried to get up on his new limbs. There were several falls onto his face and flank. After enough tries, the new earth pony was finally able to get onto all four hooves.

"You are picking up how to use your new hooves rather quickly. Shall we try some walking?"

"Yeah, I have an idea of how they work from watching you ponies. It still feels very odd being on all fours." Bob lifted his left front hoof, while balancing on the others. He wobbled a bit, but remained standing. _Ok, now the back right._ The new Earth pony repeated the walk pattern in his head, occasionally falling in different directions, but continuing to get up and try again.

Twilight remained by his side as he continued to relearn how to walk. Bob finally got to a good enough level to where he could hold a conversation without falling.

They headed out around noon time. Twilight had let Bob borrow an old saddle pack. With the door to the library closed behind them, they started the tour of the town. _I can't believe how exactly it resembles the TV show._ The Earth pony thought while she pointed to different buildings. "Say, Twilight, how long have you been in Ponyville? I'm only asking because you mentioned you are a student of Princess Celestia. With that, you must have lived in Canterlot."

"You are correct. I did live in Canterlot from when I was born to about a month ago. Princess Celestia had asked me to oversee the thousandth year of the Summer Sun Celebration right here in Ponyville." She continued to talk about what happened to her when she arrived; the meeting of her new friends that she let into her heart; the prediction of Nightmare Moon coming to pass; and finally how they stopped her, rescuing Princess Luna in the process. _All the same stuff from the first episodes._

"So, you and your friends now are the barriers of these, Elements of Harmony. I think I could see those traits in you ponies, now that I think about it. I'm grateful you found me, instead of drowning or something."

Twilight said her welcome, then continued showing all the different buildings in town and where her friends lived in. The last stop was Sugarcube Corner where Pinkie resided. Before entering, Bob turned to her and said, "Twilight, I just thought of something. Since I am in a pony form right now, I should have a name, kinda like you ponies, instead of my human name."

"Not a bad idea. Have you come up with one?" asked Twilight.

"I think so. What do you think of Swift Blaze?"

"I think it suits you. How long have you been thinking about this?"

"Since we left the Library. Another thing about me is I have different thoughts running around in my head as I do another task that don't have any connection with it."

"You keep amazing me with what you tell me about yourself. Shall we go inside and get a treat?"

"Sure thing. But, let's see if we can trick Pinkie by having her meet a new pony and not realizing it is me. Just hang back and follow my lead.

"Sounds like fun. Everypony will be laughing when you reveal yourself."

"Oh, can I have some currency of this world? Don't think what humans use will pass here, plus I left it in my bags at the library."

"Not a problem. Here are a couple bits." She levitated a couple coins from her bag and placed them in Bob's, now Swift Blaze.

He headed inside and saw Mrs. Cake behind the counter. "Well, hello stranger. I have not seen you in town before. Did you just get here this morning?" She said.

Not wanting for Pinkie to recognize, Swift Blaze changed the tone of his voice to a western accent, "Howdy there, ma'am. I did just arrive this morning. Got off the train coming from Appleloosa."

"That is some distance to travel. What brings you here?"

"Mostly just to take a hoof off from constructing of putting up more buildings there." All of a sudden, a pink blur came at Blaze from the kitchen. It was aimed to hit him, but with a slight twist out of the way, the object collided with a wall. "What in tarnation was that?" he said with a surprised look on his muzzle.

"I am so sorry! That is my employee, Pinkie Pie. I have told her to not tackle every new pony that comes to town. Pinkie Pie! Say you're sorry to this nice stallion for trying to tackle him. His name is, . . . err . . ."

"Swift Blaze. My name is Swift Blaze. I'm actually kinda used to being attacked. We have some pesky buffalo wanting us to move the town someplace else for some unknown reason."

"Sorry to hear that, dear. So what can I get you?"

"I'm in the mood for a couple of them fresh glazed donuts." Blaze said as he licked his muzzle. _Odd, never thought a pony's tongue was that long._

"Coming right up." She headed to the kitchen.

Pinkie Pie picked herself up and came over to the Earth Stallion, "I'm so sorry for trying to tackle you, Swift Blaze. I just get so excited when a new pony comes to town that I have to meet them right away and become friends with them. Strange thing though, my pinkie sense normally goes off when a new pony comes into town."

"Pinkie sense?"

"That is when my body sends me a signal base upon what my body does when I am not in control of it."

Twilight now came into the shop and acted like she never met Swift Blaze before. "Hey there, Pinkie. How come you ran off early yesterday? I thought you would of liked to show Bob around town?"

"You know, silly. I have to plan his welcome party and that is going to be a surprise. Just like yours when you arrived here in Ponyville."

_If she only knew she just told me._

Mrs. Cake just came back with very fresh donuts. "That will be two bits, sir." She said.

Blaze placed his head into the saddle to grab the money with his mouth. Once he felt two of the coins, he placed them on the counter for her. Mrs. Cake then walked with him to a table and set the food down.

"Enjoy it, deary." she said. Then, the blue mare returned to behind the counter to attend the next customer.

Blaze picked up one of them with his mouth and chewed the entire thing up. _Even the pastries are better here than on Earth._

Pinkie and Twilight walked up to the table Swift Blaze was at. "Hey Twi, have you me Swift Blaze? He just arrived in town this morning from Appleloosa." said Pinkie.

Twilight was doing her best to not mess with the joke Blaze was doing. "Can't say I have. Well, it is nice to meet you, mister. How long are you going to be in town for?" Twilight asked.

"Not long, miss. Just a few days to relax before I return back to my hometown. I already got a place to stay at a hotel nearby." Blaze replied.

"Hey! Do you want to come to the surprise welcome party we are having for our friend? It will be at the library at 8:00pm." said Pinkie.

"Sounds like a barrel of fun. I'll see ya there." said Blaze. He headed out, but not after picking up the last doughnut and eating it down quickly.

He returned back to the library. To keep the ruse going, he informed Spike of his prank.

"Oh, this is going to be hilarious! I can't wait to see the looks on their faces when you reveal yourself. How did you come up with something like that?" Spike asked.

"I've dabbled in some pranks back in college. Ones I'm under oath not to share with anything." Blaze said. With nothing to do, the stallion decided to kill time by reading some books on Equestrian history. More to familiarize himself with it.

Twilight showed up later with a huge grin on her face. "What has you in a happy mood?" Blaze asked.

"I am so excited to get back at Pinkie for startling me with my welcome party when I got here."

"Glad to be of service. I can't wait to surprise everypony the human they met now has his own pony form. So, in case ponies ask where I went, tell them I went into the forest to stretch my legs. Also, so they don't worry, tell them that I said I can handle myself if danger comes. Sound good?"

She nodded, then said, "Hold on. How did you know there is a place in Equestria called Appleloosa? None of my friends, nor I, mentioned it.?

"Um, I saw it on that map there on the table in the center of the room." Blaze said, hoping she will believe it.

Twilight turned her head to the table in question. Sure enough, a map was on it. "Huh, I thought I had put that away. When did you take a look at it?"

"When I was practicing walking around the room and chatting with you."

"Interesting. You managed to read a town's name on a map while walking and talking. Your mind is impressive. Anything you can't do?"

Blaze thought for a second, then said, "Mime."

"Huh?" Twilight said with a confused look on her face.

"It's a unique performing style back on Earth. So, are you going to invite the Princesses?"

Twilight's smile went even bigger! "I should! I'll go and write them a letter about the upcoming party. Oh, this is going to be so much fun!" She said as she clapped her fore hooves together.

As she went and pranced about to go and write the letter, Blaze went back to the book he was reading and waited for the party to start. _I'm glad that map was there. Don't know what I would have said to explain my knowledge of this place._

Pinkie showed up at 7:30pm. She pulled in her party canon and fired it to quickly set up all the decorations. Mr. and Mrs. Cake showed up soon after with the food and drinks. Soon, everypony else had showed up. Some of them got ready to surprise Bob, the human. Blaze thought as he watched, _Won't they be the surprised ones._

"You remembered to tell Bob to come back at 8pm for dinner, Twilight?" Rarity asked.

"Of course." she said with a fake smile. Before anyone could question it, Twilight said, "Now then, it's getting close to him returning. Everypony, get into position!"

Everyone went to every possible hiding place. Blaze stayed close to Twilight. She whispered to him, "So, when are you going to surprise them?"

Blaze whispered back, "I will nudge you. Then, you'll get up and sound worried. Once everypony believes you, I will reveal myself."

She giggled quietly at this plan.

8:15pm rolls around. Twilight felt the nudge. She got up slowly and looked around. "Where is he? He promised to return at 8pm. I am starting to worry girls."

The others got up from their hiding spots. They too looked worried. "What do you think could have happened?" Rarity asked. "I hope nothing dreadful!"

"We should then go out and look for him! He might be hurt!" Rainbow shouted.

Blaze decided to reveal himself. In his normal voice, he said, "What is everypony worried about? Wondering where I have been?" They turned their heads toward the red Earth pony, looking for Bob in his human form. "What? Did you expect to come through the front door?" Everyone that was not in on the joke, dropped their mouths wide open. "I guess the surprise is now for you!" Swift Blaze started to laugh hard. He was on his back, holding his gut, laughing out loud. Twilight and Spike soon joined in laughing. Then, everyone else had joined in on the laughter.

"Oh man, Bob! I think that was the best prank yet!" Rainbow said, while flying and holding her belly too from laughing very hard.

"I didn't want to stay inside and wait for Princess Celestia to introduce me to the town. So Twilight used her magic and transformed me into pony for two days. I have roughly forty hours left before I should turn back. Once back in my human form, I think I'll be able to change back into this form whenever I want to after that. Also, I decided to give myself a more, pony name. That would be, Swift Blaze. Or you can just call me Blaze."

"Swift Blaze, huh," said Rainbow Dash. "Guess that is twenty percent better than the name of Bob."

"You're still mad that I caught you saying my name backwards."

"AM NOT! I don't know who in Equestria would name their kid that."

"Remember, Rainbow Dash, I'm not from here."

Rainbow blew some air out of her nose, out of frustration. Then headed to the food table for some cider.

Rarity came up and said, "Oh darling, you look very handsome as a pony, and a nice name too. I have a couple designs I think would look good for you. Why don't you stop by my place and allow me to make something for you."

"Thank you Rarity, for the compliment. I'm sorry, but I can't afford anything like that. I do not have any money that will work here to pay for them."

"Don't worry about it. The first one will be free. Any others you can pay for them, when you can. At a friendly discount of course."

"Thank you for the generosity. I will see you tomorrow then." Blaze turned to the hyper pink ball. "So, Pinkie, are you ok after I turned the surprise on the surprise planner?"

"Ohthatwassocrazyandtrulyunexpected! Youreallygotmegood. Iamsohappyyouarehereandsomuchfun. IwillcomeandseeyouwhenIwanttopullsomepranksonsomeponies." She said at hyper speed.

"Pinkie Pie, you should really slow down your speaking so everypony can understand you." Blaze said.

She nodded, then hopped away to continue hosting the party.

Blaze mingled with the other ponies he hadn't met yet. He told some stuff about himself that they would believe while in pony form.

A little while later, the front door opened. The Princess of the Day and of the Night had arrived. They walked inside and closed the door. No guards were with them this time. All the ponies, including Blaze, bowed to them.

"Hello my fellow ponies. I hope we are not too late to surprise our newest arrival to Ponyville." Princess Celestia said.

Most of the ponies had smirks on their faces, knowing that the joke is still going. Blaze walked up to them and said, "Good evening your highnesses. I'm sorry, but the guest of honor has yet to show. Would you mind describing what they look like?"

"Well, he is not a pony, nor any creature you might have witnessed or read about. He is about as tall as me, stands on his back legs, and has a very unique personality."

"What do you like about MY personality?"

"Well, you remind me . . . wait. Bob?" The Princess started to sound surprised.

"That's my name. Don't wear it out. Well, I have a new name, Swift Blaze. Didn't expect the surpriser to get surprised?"

"It was good, Bob, or should I say, Swift Blaze."

"While in my pony form, call me Blaze."

"We detected thy presence, but could not find where." said Princess Luna.

"How did you figure that out?"

"Thy soul aura is different than thy ponies."

"Huh, never could have guessed that." Swift Blaze looked directly at the Princess of the Night. "Princess Luna, Twilight Sparkle had told me about your first visit to Ponyville and . . . the return of Nightmare Moon."

Princess Luna duck her head lower as she still could not forgive herself for turning into that thing. Blaze saw that he'd struck a nerve. "I am grateful these girls were able to save you with the Elements of Harmony. I can't imagine what you went through. If you want, you can talk to at night. I will most likely be up as I don't need much sleep." He said.

"We might take thou up thine offer." she said.

"If you would also like, I think I can help you speak the way of the modern world."

"We would appreciate thine experience in this."

"It would be an honor to do so."

Princess Celestia stepped up close to Blaze and said, "Whenever you're ready, Blaze, I would like to find out more about your day when you arrived here. I sense it might be a touchy subject. That is why I did not ask when I first saw you."

Blaze looked at her and responded with, "I'm grateful for that. It is somewhat a touchy subject. But, when I'm ready, I will tell you and my new friends. They should also know what happened to me."

"I'm glad to see they have grown on you and you on to them. Have you determined where you are going to stay?"

"Well, if the others agree to it, I will see if the girls will allow me to stay with them. That is until I can get the resources together to get my own place. Before you say it, Your Highness, I cannot accept your generosity in giving me a place that is made for a pony. I won't be a pony all the time, so I would like to make sure the house is set for a human." said Blaze.

"I understand that your species require things differently, but don't hesitate to ask for help, as we help everypony."

"Thank you, Princess Celestia. If you would excuse me, I think I should verify where I am going to stay for the night."

Blaze bowed to them and made his way back to the mane six. They had gathered together near the food table, chatting. "How is everypony enjoying this party?" he asked.

"We should be asking you how you are enjoying it, sugarcube." said Applejack.

"I agree, do you like this social gathering?" Rarity asked.

"I'm definitely enjoying the party. This is the biggest celebration I've been to in years, especially one for me." A tear started to form in one of the red Earth's pony's eyes. "I can't thank you enough for rescuing me, healing me, and letting me into your hearts." he said.

"Enough of this wishy washy. You are even making me tear up." Rainbow said.

"Alright. So, seeing it's getting late, and I just came to your world and broke, would one of you mind if I stay the night with you? This is only until I can get something together for my own place. I won't be able to get it started until I'm back in my human body."

They all started to offer up their places, except for Rainbow as her home is literally in the clouds. Blaze tried his best to hear each of their reasons why he should stay with them. The problem is, they are saying them at the same time. The only one Blaze could not hear was Fluttershy.

"HOLD IT!" He yelled to get their attention. "I realize now that was probably not the best way to ask. From what I can tell, you all have good points. But, I think there is only one pony that I should choose. I am truly thankful to her for taking care of my injuries." Blaze walked to the pony in question. "Fluttershy, would you allow me to stay at your place tonight? In the morning, I could help you with the feeding of your animals.?"

Her face revealed a big smile. "Yes. I would like you to stay at my cottage." Her voice was a little louder than normal so everyone could hear it.

Blaze placed a hoof around her, to give a hug.

The party started to die down as other ponies started to leave. The red Earth pony helped out with the others in cleaning up. The girls insisted that Swift Blaze didn't need to help. He replied that he wanted to. Plus, this would allow him to practice being a pony some more.

After the cleanup, Fluttershy and Blaze walked toward her cottage. She kept close to him as she was a little afraid of the dark. Once they arrived, Angel stepped in front of the Earth pony to try and stop him from coming in. Fluttershy explained the situation of why he was here. The rabbit still gave him the stink eye as he let the pony pass.

Inside, Blaze said, "Fluttershy, where is the bathroom? I would like to freshen up before I go to bed."

"Oh, it's down the hall. First door on the right." She said.

Blaze was in there longer than he would have liked. Trying to use the facilities was hard as he was still learning how a pony did it. Once done, the Earth pony made his way to the living room.

On the couch, he saw Fluttershy. She was asleep and under some blankets. _I know I am the guest, but I could never take her bed._ Blaze did his best to pick her up and place her on his back, without waking her. She must have been exhausted as she didn't wake up as he carried the Pegasus to her bed. Angel was following them.

In the bedroom, Blaze whispered, "Look, I know you probably hate me."

The bunny nodded.

"Can you put that on hold and help me by pulling the sheet back?

Angel looked at him for a few seconds. Then, he hopped onto the bed and pulled it back. The Earth pony gently placed her in the bed. The bunny pulled them over her, then position his body down next to the Pegasus and went to sleep.

Blaze went to the couch. He just collapsed onto it without a second thought. Soon, he too was off to dreamland.


	6. Chapter 5: She has the Golden Ticket

While Swift Blaze was sleeping, he was visited by Master Roshi (God) again. They did some agility training. Some were DBZ style, others were with the chakra from Naruto. The latter took longer, as the former human had to find it within him and learn how to control it. The last part was flight control with ki energy. The ground changed into a rubber elastic compound. The human needed it, as he fell quite frequently.

Before Blaze woke up to the real world, he said, "So, should I expect to do this training every night in my sleep?"

**"No. Tomorrow night you can take a break."** God's body shifted forms. **"The next night, we are going to work on the hard stuff.**

_Great, I went from a master to a major._

**"What did you think about me, boy!**

The human stood straight up and said, "Sir! Nothing, sir!"

With that, the white space vanished from his sight. He wakes up, just before falling off the couch. _Ow._ The Earth pony saw it was about an hour just before dawn. He decided to watch the sunrise. Also, he should do some muscle training in on this pony body.

He headed outside into the cool air and slight mist in the air. _The air here is so clean. I still can't believe what we lived in back on Earth. All from the pollutions and toxic fumes we were pouring into the atmosphere, I'm surprised it lasted as long as it did._ Blaze started his routine with a quick gallop down the road. The pony did this until he came to an open field with a nice hill. He walked to the top, thinking about the next part of the training. The moment Blaze reached the top, he could see the sunrise about to start. The pony sat down as he watched the sun slowly rise into the sky. _Such a beautiful view of the mountains and landscape. I really want to capture the moment, but it will have to wait till I am human again so I can use my phone to take the pic._

Once satisfy with the view, Blaze went back to training. He started with stretches to see how his pony body can handle it. From there, the Earth pony practiced standing on his hind legs in different positions. He fell on his flank more times than he liked, but he had a feeling this will be needed soon.

After an hour, Blaze headed back to Fluttershy's cottage to see if she was awake. Upon arriving there, his nose could smell something delicious cooking. He headed to the kitchen to see Fluttershy cooking something good. "Morning Fluttershy. What smells delicious?" He said.

"Eep!" Fluttershy squeaked as Blaze had startled her. "Oh, Blaze, I did not hear you come in. I saw you left when I woke up. For some reason, I couldn't figure how I woke up in my bed. Did you carry me to my bed last night?"

"I did. I could not take your bed as you took the couch. I just wasn't right. Hope you don't mind."

"Not at all. I just hoped you slept well on the couch. If you don't mind, can you tell me where you went this morning?"

"It is never a problem, Fluttershy. I went out to watch the sunrise and to get some practice in on using this pony body. I realize now I can't do some of the same stuff my human body could do." Blaze said as he rubbed one fore hoof on his flank. "So, what are you cooking up?"

"Oh, just some pancakes, with a side of fruit. Would you like a plate, if that is okay with you?"

"I would love one. I'm sure anything you cook will taste very good." She hoofed Blaze a plate to the table. He sat down there and started to eat. She joined him with a plate of her own.

Once he licked the plate clean, literally, Blaze said, "I was correct. You do cook some delicious food. Seeing you cooked, please, allow me to clean up. Then, we can go and take care of your animals."

"Oh, I couldn't allow you to clean up. You are a guest in my cottage. Please, allow me."

"Sorry, Fluttershy, but I insist on doing the cleanup to show my gratitude."

Blaze picked up the plates and cooking equipment. As he scrubbed everything clean, a thought came to him, _Huh, I'm able to hold onto this stuff without thinking hard about it. Must be that passive magic all ponies have the fimfic stories always mentioned. Cool to see it in action._

The two ponies went outside and started to feed the animals. She was showing Blaze what to feed them and how. "You have to do it this way so they wouldn't be scared of you. Isn't that right, my cute little animal friends?" The Earth pony found it was relaxing to watch the animals eat in the beautiful scenery.

"Would you mind accompanying me to the market? I need to pick up some more feed for my animals." Fluttershy asked.

"I would love to."

They grabbed some saddle bags from inside before leaving. Angel decided to tag along by riding on the back of Fluttershy. Once at the edge of town, Blaze followed the Pegasus to the market. He was still figuring out where everything is. They came to vendor that sold animal feed of all kinds. She purchased her usual amount. The Earth pony had put more of the feed on himself, so Fluttershy did not have to carry so much, and that it would help strengthen his legs with the extra load.

As they approached the town square, Blaze saw Twilight chatting with Rainbow, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie. Spike was there also, and holding something shiny in his claws. Angel bolted off Fluttershy and ran toward the dragon. The bunny snagged the shiny objects and brought the items to the yellow Pegasus to see. Once they came into view the red Earth pony saw that they were two gold tickets to some event. It took a few seconds for him to realize that they are the tickets to the Grad Galloping Gala. _Oh boy. Twilight is going to have a fun day today._

Swift Blaze and Fluttershy, along with Angel, joined the girls in their conversation on who should get the second ticket. Blaze cleared his throat and said, "May I interject for a moment? What is this event you all are arguing about?"

Each one told him about how big the event is and what each one dreamed of doing there. "I see. Well, I hate to be rude, but you should give Twilight her space so she can think of who she wants to give the second ticket to. I personally don't want to go as I can't stand fancy parties." said Blaze.

"This is my decision, and I'm gonna make it on my own, and I certainly can't think straight with all this noise." Twilight said in frustration. They all nodded and wandered off in separate directions.

Blaze returned with Fluttershy to her cottage and dropped off the feed. "I'm going to check on Twilight. She looked like she couldn't decide on who to choose." he said.

"I do hate to see my friend so worried up about it. Maybe there is something I can do to cheer her up." said Fluttershy.

"I suggest to not do anything too big. She might think you are only doing that to get the ticket."

Blaze left and started to look for the purple Unicorn. He found her sitting at a table outside a cafe with Spike. Twilight had her head on the table. The Earth pony walked over to join them and said, "Um, Twilight, you okay?"

"Oh, hi Swift Blaze." Twilight said. She picked her head up. "I'm not doing so well. I just can't decide who I should give the other ticket to. They all have good reason to go, and I don't want to disappoint them."

"Have you thought of asking Princess Celestia about getting more tickets for all your friends?"

"I can't ask that! Don't you know how hard it is to get these tickets? It is a very exclusive and big event that anypony who is anypony will be attending. I just can't ask the Princess for more tickets."

"To answer the first part, no I don't. I just came to your world. For the second part, I do think she would give you the tickets as you are her student, one of the barriers of the Elements of Harmony, and especially your friend."

Twilight smiled at Blaze. She believed that he might be right.

"Now then, let's order something. I'm starving." Blaze's stomach rumbled in response.

Twilight giggled and agreed. She levitated a menu to him. He looked it over and saw most of the dishes either contained some flower or hay. _Even though I am in a pony body, I can't convince myself to eat those._ The Earth pony went for a basic salad. Twilight ordered a daffodil and daisy sandwich. Spike had the hay fries, but extra crispy.

The food arrived soon after. Before they could chow down, nearby ponies were running into the buildings. _Oh great. I recall this scene._ The waiter asked Twilight and company from the door if they wanted to eat their food in the rain.

"It's not raining." said the Unicorn. She looked around and saw that everywhere else nearby was raining, except the spot they were at.

Blaze just said, "I will give you one guess what could have done this."

She thought for a moment. Once the name came to her, her voice was loud enough for the culprit to hear it, "Rainbow Dash!"

Rainbow popped her head over the opening above them. "Hi there, best friend forever I've ever, ever had. Enjoying the sunny weather?" said Rainbow Dash with a smile.

As they go back and forth about doing favors, Blaze started to chow down his food before the cloud opening was zipped up. The rain then fell on them. It caused the uneaten food to get soggy. Twilight's frustration rose higher than before.

Soon after, Rarity showed up. She had an umbrella saddle on her keeping the white Unicorn dry. She invited all of them to dry off at her shop, but Blaze knew this pony had other motives. The Earth pony decided to intervene here.

"Hey Rarity, would you mind getting my measurements?" asked Blaze. "I would also like to see the outfit design you want to do for me."

Rarity's eyes sparkled at the thought. "Oh! It will be my pleasure! Oh, I have so many design ideas! I don't know where to start. But first, we should get your measurements. Want to make sure they will fit you correctly. Please stand here and hold still."

As the red Earth pony was getting measured, he mouthed to Twilight to meet her at her library. She nodded and left with Spike.

Time passed and Blaze felt he was standing there for an hour. But it had only been fifteen minutes. "Okay, darling, in a few hours, I should have the first design of many I have planned for you. You can either wait here, or come back." said Rarity.

"I think I will wait here. If I could put my suggestion into it, I would like no gems. I prefer something that is comfortable, but should also be stealthy. Fabric that doesn't make noise when you move about." said Blaze.

"Interesting. I haven't done something like that before. What are you planning, Swift Blaze?" Rarity looked at him with a questionable look.

"Nothing! Nothing at all!" Blaze quickly replied. " I just like that style of clothing. Kinda like that gi outfit my human form was wearing when I arrived."

"So that is the name of that style. Well, it will be a challenge, but I'm up for it. I'll come get you when the design is done."

"Thank you. I'll go take a seat in the front." Rarity nodded, then headed off to her workshop in the back. Blaze got comfortable on the sofa _Wonder if God wouldn't mind if I do some personal training in that space._

Blaze closed his eyes and focused on entering his mind. When he opened them, he was back in the white space. He looked around and saw how boring this was.

"Wish I could practice in someplace those DBZ fighter had fought in." said Blaze.

The area changed to an open area with huge rocks. _Huh, that was easy. Can I get a bacon double cheeseburger?_ Nothing happens.

Blaze turned his attention back to the task at hand, more training. He's been focusing on physical movement with God. He thinks this might be a good time to try some type of energy blast. The human focused the energy to his right hand. A red orb started to form just above it. He focused more energy into it, causing the sphere to grow bigger and shine brighter. Once it was the size of a softball, he launched it into a rock that was a good distance away. The rock exploded into dust.

"Yikes. I need to dial the energy down a peg or two. Anything more and you can kiss the planet goodbye."

Blaze scaled the energy he was using down. He continued to launch and adjust until he would cause cracks to spread out in the rocks.

With that done with, the next thing he wanted to practice more of was ki flying. Recalling this early morning routine, Blaze focused his ki to below his body. The skin on his arms and head was feeling the wind around him, blowing in all directions. The human increased the energy flow. Soon enough, he was off the ground. Just as the human was about to fly in this mind space, a shattering scream came from the distance. This knocked him back to the real world.

When Blaze opened his eyes, he was upside down in front of the couch. He looked around for the source of the scream. The Earth pony soon saw Rarity, standing at the entrance of her workshop, with a frightened look on her face.

"What's going on?" Blaze asked. "And why am I upside down?"

Rarity did her best to compose herself. Then, in a scared tone, said, "I just got done with your outfit and came in to show when, I saw you floating above the couch! What in Equestria were you doing?"

_Woah, guess my flying also occurred in the real world while in my mind. Glad none of those energy blast became real also. I need something to explain this._ thought Blaze. "Um, I was trying to recall any other skill or ability that was placed in my head. I guess that I can float or something."

"Are you saying you discovered a way for non-Pegasus to fly?"

"I don't know anything about that. This ability is something I'm still figuring out. I didn't think this pony body would be able to it." Blaze changed the subject to avoid any more questions on this. "So, what is the new outfit you made?"

"Well, when I first saw your outfit in that, um, human body, I thought it was repulsive. But, after hearing about yourself and what you like, I can see how clothing can serve a function instead of being fashionable. So, for you, my dear friend, Swift Blaze, your new outfit for your pony form is a gi. Should feel the same like what you had, I just had to get your measurements to make sure it will fit."

Rarity's horn lit up as she levitated the outfit from the work shop. The style was an exact match. "Thank you so much Rarity! I can't believe how you were able to get the design down just by seeing it on me. You really do have an eye for fashion design. Expect to see me soon when I need some other clothing to be made."

"It's not a problem, dear. I look forward to your future business. Now allow me to help put this on you so you can really admire it."

"That might be a good thing as I don't know how to put clothes on in pony form."

She giggled at the comment. In a short time, Blaze was wearing his outfit in front of the full three angle view mirrors. Everything fit perfectly. Blaze turned his head to the Unicorn and said, "Again, Rarity, you did an outstanding job in recreating my gi outfit. You sure I can't do anything to pay you back?"

"Of course not, darling. You are my friend and I love to make things for my friends with no payment in mind."

"Thank you, again. Now then, if you excuse me, I am going to take my leave."

She nodded and went back to her workshop.

Once Blaze was outside, he decided to check on Twilight Sparkle and Spike to see how they were doing. It didn't take the Earth pony long to find out. He went around a corner and saw a group of ponies tossing another pony above them in front of the Library. Seeing Twilight needing some possible help, Blaze ran toward the crowd. He was almost there, but then saw the purple Unicorn and small dragon that was holding her tail ran off in another direction with everyone else chasing them.

_Oh goody, time for the chase scene. Better pick up the pace._ thought Blaze. While running, he started to push chakra to his hooves. This allowed him to make quick jumps and gain some speed. Within a minute, the Earth pony had caught up to the pair.

Blaze shouted, "TWILIGHT! SPIKE! GET ON MY BACK IF YOU WANT TO ESCAPE!" as he ran alongside them.

Twilight looked over and said, "Blaze!? Where did you come from?"

"No time for questions! Quickly, get on!"

Spike jumped from Twilight's back and onto Swift Blaze's. Twilight soon followed. Blaze felt the increased weight on his back, but the pony body was able to handle it.

"Buckle up. We are about to shift into Turbo!"

Before Twilight or Spike could respond, Blaze pushed more chakra to his hooves. This allowed him to increase his jump distance. The Earth pony was getting away from the mob that were chasing them. He went into an alley when Blaze guessed he had about a ten second lead. _Time to go where they won't expect us to be._ Blaze thought as he charged up his ki.

As the stallion stood still, Twilight said to him, "Bob, how did you . . . AHHH!"

The Earth pony just forced his ki with all he could down to the ground. This sent him and the others on his back up into the sky. Twilight and Spike screamed as they gained altitude. Twilight's mind was trying to figure out how this Earth pony was doing this

Blaze flew into a thick cloud to hide them. He whispered, "Ok, please quiet down. We don't want them to find out where we went. Agreed?"

Twilight and Spike nodded while they finished recovering from the adrenaline rush. Both still couldn't believe what had happened.

"I will explain how I did this once we are safe."

Blaze slowly poked his head out to see if the coast was clear. When it was, he flew them back to the library. Once back on solid ground at the front door, they hopped off the Earth pony and started to kiss the ground.

They went inside after that quick happy period. The Unicorn closed the door quickly. She then turned to Spike and said, "Quick! Close and lock all the windows and barricade the doors."

The lights turned on. Blaze saw Rainbow, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy had been waiting for them to come back. Twilight's stress finally got to her as she confessed to them why she hadn't been able to make a decision. Her friends saw how bad this was making the purple Unicorn feel. Each one decided and told her that they no longer wanted the ticket for different reasons.

Hearing their new decisions, Twilight felt relieved. She now knew what she should have done. "Spike, take a letter to Princess Celestia." she said.

Spike grabbed a scroll and quill and started to write down what she wanted to say. The mares gasped when they heard she was returning both tickets.

"I do not want to go to the Gala without all of my friends." Twilight said to everyone in the room.

With the letter done, Spike blew his flame onto the scroll. It turned into a smoke, heading to Princess Celestia. A few minutes later, Spike belched a letter and read it out loud,

_My faithful student, Twilight Sparkle,_

_Why didn't you say so in the first place._

Six tickets appeared. All the mares cheered as they could all go to the Gala.

Blaze said to them, "Have fun at the Gala. Spike and I can use that time for a guy's night out."

Spike did another belch and another scroll appeared. It read,

_To Spike and Swift Blaze,_

_I forgot to include tickets for you two in the previous scroll. Enjoy your time at the Gala._

_Your Sun Ruler,_

_Princess Celestia._

Two tickets appeared with this scroll. "Looks we have our escorts to the Gala, now." Rarity said.

Blaze replied to the comment with one of his own, "It also looks you will have to make me a tux for my pony and the human form if you want me to escort you girls to the Gala."

Her smile went almost ear to ear. The white Unicorn's eyes glittered as different designs were going through her head.

Twilight Sparkle's stomach rumbled, breaking the festive mood. The other mares decided to treat her to dinner for the grief they had caused their friend. Twilight only accepted if Blaze and Spike could join them. They all nodded.

On their way to the diner, the purple Unicorn said to the red Earth pony, "Once we place our orders, you have some explaining to do."

Blaze only response was, "Aww, censor beep."


	7. Chapter 6: Blaze, You Have Some Explain

The group made their way to a local diner. They all joked about the things they did to convince Twilight Sparkle to give them the second ticket to the Grand Galloping Gala. Inside, the waitress mare greeted them, "Good evening. How many are there in your party?"

Pinkie Pie quickly said, "This isn't a party, or I would have brought my party canon. Wait, where did I leave it? OH! I know it's . . . mmph!"

Applejack had placed her hoof over the party pony's mouth as she continued to muffle what she was saying. "Hey, Red, sorry about that. There's eight of us," the orange mare replied.

"Not a problem, Applejack. Give me a few moments and I'll have your table ready." Red, the waitress walked away.

Applejack took her hoof down, once Pinkie was done saying what she was thinking. Blaze was in the middle of everyone, trying to think of the best way to explain what he did that day.

Red came back and led the ponies, and dragon, to the joined tables that can handle everyone. She passed out green menus and said, "I'll be back in a few minutes to get your drink orders."

With that, she left as everyone went around the table to find a place to sit. There were no chairs, only cushions. Swift Blaze sat at one end of the table, while Spike took the other end. To the red Earth pony's left, sat Twilight, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy. On Spike's left, sat Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack.

Red came back and took their drink and food orders. When she left, both Twilight and Rarity looked at Blaze with a waiting look in their eyes. It was as if they were expecting something from the stallion. He took a big gulp down his throat while getting a double third degree stare.

"So, Blaze, care to explain what you did today?" Twilight asked.

Blaze rubbed the back of his head as he said, "Um, yeah. I think I do need to explain, seeing I did something no Earth pony could do, I think."

"Nothing recorded without the aid of magic or some small, personal, flying contraption."

"Wait," said Rainbow Dash. "Are you saying that he, who's been a pony for two days, somehow flew? I think, Twilight, the chaos of today made you see things."

"I agree with Rainbow on this one. There is no way a mere Earth Pony could fly without some Unicorn or Pegasus help." said Applejack.

Blaze said, "Sorry to burst your bubble, but I was flying today. I floated in Rarity's shop and I helped Twilight and Spike escape from a mob of ticket hungry ponies."

"How in tarnation did you pull that off?"

"Remember when I said that super being had given me some abilities?"

The ponies and dragon nodded their heads.

"Well, it turns out that one of them is to fly."

Rainbow said, "I'll believe it when I see it."

"Then tomorrow, I will show you. Better yet, we can do a little race." Blaze said with a smile.

"You do realize you just challenged the fastest flyer in Equestria?"

"No, I challenged the fastest Pegasus in Equestria. We shall see who is faster."

"Alright! It . . . is . . . on!"

Their orders arrived soon after. The pony started to talk about what they want to do at the Gala. Blaze and Spike just sat quietly and ate their food. The mares paid for the meal, including what the red stallion and dragon ordered.

After they left the diner, Blaze asked, "So girls, who's place am I going to be sleeping at tonight?"

"I suggest you come with me," Twilight said. "You have a meeting with the Princess before she will introduce you to the town in your human form. The event is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. If my calculations are correct, that will be about the time your spell should end."

"I guess that makes sense. So, I will see the rest of you sometime tomorrow." Blaze turned his head to the purple Unicorn. "Lead the way. My body feels tired enough to sleep standing."

"Bye, girls. I better get this stallion to his own bed before he collapses on the road." They giggle at that and separate to go to their homes. Blaze followed Twilight to the library with Spike. They went inside and closed the door.

"So, where will I be sleeping tonight? Is it in the basement, a different bed, or maybe your bed?" He said with a smile.

Twilight stopped in her tracks and coughed a bit. She turned her head to him. "Excuse me?" she said with a scary look in her eyes.

The stallion raised his fore hooves in front of him. He waved them about as he said, "Sorry! Sorry! It was a human joke. The cot in the basement will be fine."

Spike said, "I don't get it. I sleep in Twilight's room. Where's the joke?"

She calmed down. "It's ok. You don't have to sleep in the basement. I have a guest bedroom upstairs that you can use."

"Thank you. If it's not too much to ask, do you think you can bring my stuff up to the room as well?"

"Not a problem. I'm still holding your word that you are going to show me that fancy device that has tons of information." Twilight used her magic and brought them to the foot of the bed.

"I haven't forgotten, Twilight. Once you see what's in there, you'll probably get a brain overload." Blaze chuckled after that comment. "Goodnight, Spike, Twilight. See you in the morning. One last thing, can you tell me where your bathroom is? I would like to freshen up."

"Sleep tight, Blaze. The bathroom is the next door on the right." The Unicorn and dragon left the room and closed the door.

After thirty minutes of figuring out how, Blaze was finally able to get his new gi off, without ripping it. Once the bathroom business of cleaning up and using the facilities was done, he headed back to the guest room, climbed under the covers, and fall asleep.

His eyes opened to reveal he was back in his mind space. Bob took a look around for his trainer, but he wasn't there. He shouted, "Oh God! I need to chat with you!"

**"Someone who was turned into a pony called my name?"** a voice said behind the human.

Bob turned around and said, "I almost blew my sleep training! I was floating in my sleep. How could that have happened? I'm just grateful nothing else showed up in the real world."

God was dressed up as a janitor with a mop in his hands. **"Oops, silly me, I forgot to disconnect that. Give me one moment."**

He walked a few feet to his right and pulled at something. It revealed to be a maintenance panel with switches, buttons, and lights in no particular order. God's eyes looked around inside, trying to find the correct thing to select.

**"Ah! There is the nasty bugger. That shouldn't happen anymore."**

With that, the panel was closed and disappeared from out of sight.

Bob said, "Thanks. While you are here, mind helping me build up my flying speed?"

**"This wouldn't be for a race you talked yourself into?"**

"Kinda is. I know I've only started my training, but I need a crash course in aerial flying if I want to stand a chance."

**"I suppose. But don't think this would get you off from training tomorrow night." **God shifted his form to Major Payne. **"I'm gonna make you nice and strong."**

The next morning, Blaze woke up again before dawn. His body ached from the intense mind training he'd went through. But the pony was glad he did. He got out of bed and stretched all his limbs. Then, quietly put on his gi. It took less effort this time in getting it off.

Blaze exited the room and made his way to the outside. Once there, the Earth pony started his morning jog to the hill to do some physical training. He stretched his limbs and body a little more in the open space. Then, the stallion went into balance training to stay on the back hooves longer.

After about an hour this, Blaze made his way back to the library. Once inside, he saw that Twilight and Spike had not waken up. _Let's see how well I can cook with these hooves._ He thought in his head as he held up his fore hooves in front of him.

Blaze made his way to the kitchen. He looked in the pantry and fridge to see what was available. The stallion found enough ingredients for chocolate chip pancakes from scratch. He made them plenty of times back on Earth, so the basic of the recipe is easy to recall.

The pony got on his hind legs and gathered the food and cooking utensils to make everyone there a nice breakfast. He mixed up the batter and added the chocolate chips into it. Then, he turned on the stove, without catching on fire. Finally, he placed a flat skillet and started pouring the batter onto it. Blaze heard some movement coming from upstairs.

He continued to cook when Spike came into the kitchen and said, "What smells delicious?"

Blaze replied, "One of my favorite kind of pancakes, chocolate chip. Did the cooking wake both of you?"

"It sure did. Hope you made enough." Spike said as he licked his mouth with his dragon tongue.

"I made enough for seconds. Go ahead and sit at the table. The first batch is almost done"

He did so very quickly. Twilight entered the dining room and joined her assistant. "Good morning Swift Blaze. How nice of you to make breakfast. I hope you were not at it very long." she said.

Blaze said from the kitchen, "It took me a while to get started. Mostly because I'm not used to holding things with these hooves. I had to focus how my hand would normally grab the items."

The stallion walked in on his hind legs as he carried two plates in his fore hooves. He placed them down on the table. As he was about to go and get his, Blaze saw it float in with a magical aura around it. His plate landed at an empty spot on the table.

The red Earth pony smiled as he said, "I can see how Unicorns don't have an issue with holding items. Their levitation magic makes it easy."

"In case you're wondering, not all Unicorns can do that," Twilight said in-between bites. "Their magic more ties to what their special talent is."

"I'm still impressed as there is no magic on my planet. That's why the human civilization went down the scientific path. That allowed us to develop items to make our lives easier, . . . sometimes."

"What do you mean?"

"Let's just say that not everything that was made was a good thing." Blaze's smile went away as he recalled some of the destruction the planet Earth went through. "I don't feel comfortable talking about it right now. I'll explain it later. Have to think of the best way to describe it."

"Sorry to bring up any painful memories."

"It's ok. Oh, I have a tiny request. Please don't go snooping through my bags. It's more for your safety."

Spike said with food in his mouth, "What do you have in there? Is it some weird human food that is harmful to ponies and dragons? Oh wait! Do you have something that could destroy everything?"

"Spike! Be respectful to Swift Blaze and his request. Also, don't talk with your mouth full. How many times have I told you." Twilight turned her head to Blaze. "I understand and respect your wish. I will not go looking through your things. That is a Pinkie Promise."

They finished eating the pancakes. Not a crumb was left of them. Twilight and Spike thanked the stallion for making breakfast. Spike gathered the dishes and took them back into the kitchen to clean them. Twilight Sparkle helped out by drying them and putting them away.

Once done, they walked back into the library. Blaze was sitting on a cushion, reading a book of the different creatures in Equestria.

"Seeing you have challenged Rainbow Dash to a flying race. How about we head to the park so you can get some practice in," said Twilight.

Blaze closed the book and said, "Sounds like a plan to me. Some real world practice would be good."

"Then let's get going. Spike, do you want to come too?"

"As long as I can stay on the ground, sure. I would love to see if somepony is able to keep up with Rainbow Dash," said Spike. "How about I go and gather the others and meet you there."

"Ok, Spike. See you there."

They left the library and headed out, the two ponies to the park, and Spike to round up their friends. When Twilight and Blaze arrived at the park, the sky only had a few clouds being placed overhead by the Pegasus. They found an open space that was deserted. The red Earth Pony went to the middle of it. The Unicorn stayed a couple yards back.

"Alright, time to get the air-born." said Blaze.

He closed his eyes and focused his ki to his hooves. The mind training paid off as he was floating off the ground. When he opened his eyes, Twilight has gotten closer. She was walking around the stallion with her horn glowing.

"Amazing! I can't detect how you are doing this," Twilight said with excitement.

Blaze said as he floated in the air, "It's from an energy source called ki. Another name for it that you may know is life force. From what I can tell, I'm channeling it to push against the gravity the planet is pulling on me."

A scroll and quill appeared next to Twilight. "What else do you know about this life force you call ki?"

"All living things have this. From the grass, the animals, and the ground below our hooves. Even all the ponies and any other talking creature on this planet has it. Some may say it's their soul. For those that learn to access this, it can be a great asset, or something dangerous. It took a while for that super being I mentioned to teach me how to access mine."

"Interesting. How much of this energy do you think you have?"

"I honestly don't know how to tell. It's not like I have a Z Scouter that could measure it."

"Huh?" Twilight asked with a confused look.

"Uh, never mind that. All I do know is, the more I use this source, it will likely increase its capacity."

The quill is moving fast as Blaze was talking. "I would like to bring you to my lab so I can see if we can get an actual reading. No sense in letting the equipment continue collecting dust in the basement."

"We can do that another time." Blaze looked off in the distance. "Looks like our friends have arrived."

"Oh, I'm so sorry for wasting your training time!" Twilight said as she magically sent the scroll and quill away. "This life force was so intriguing, I got caught up in wanting to learn more."

"It's ok. I got a basis of how to use it while talking. That way, I won't lose my concentration and fall out of the sky."

Rainbow and the others soon showed up to where Blaze and Twilight were. Each one had a surprised look on their faces. "Alright. Nice attempt at a prank, Twilight. You can stop using your magic," said Rainbow.

"I'm not using my magic. See?" Twilight touched her horn.

"So, then there's another Unicorn doing it."

Blaze said, "Nope, no magic is involved. I'm doing this all by myself." He did a backward somersault to demonstrate.

"Well, I still don't think you can out-fly me. You only started flying. I've been flying all my life."

"Then let's make it interesting by placing a bet. If you win, I will do whatever you want for the next week. That means anything. But, if I win, you'll teach me all the flight maneuvers you know. Do we have a deal?" Blaze held his hoof out to do a hoofshake.

"Oh, this is so on! You got a deal! Be prepared to be humiliated!"

They shook their hooves. Blaze landed and stood next to Rainbow. She stretched her wings. He heard a couple pops come from them.

Rainbow said, "Here is the course, newbie. We'll fly to Canterlot to the highest tower of the castle, do a loop around it, and return here."

"That sounds simple enough." Blaze replied.

"Then I'll see you at the finish line, tomorrow!"

"I'll make you eat those words." Blaze turned to Twilight. "Do you want to tell us when to go?"

"Sure." Twilight said.

The purple Unicorn moved in front of the red Earth stallion and blue Pegasus mare. Those two had determination showing on their faces.

After a couple seconds, Twilight said, "On your marks. . . Get set. . . GO!"

Rainbow Dash was first off the line. Swift Blaze moved behind her in flight. She flew near her top speed. The stallion managed to keep up. They saw the city on the mountain, Canterlot, getting close. Both ponies made their way to the highest tower and completed the looped around it.

As they headed back to Ponyville, Blaze yelled to Dash, "Is this all you got? I thought you can break the sound barrier."

"Then eat my rainbow dust!" She increased her speed and did the sonic rainboom.

From seeing this, Blaze thought _That's is so beautiful. Wait, I can't lose focus now. I have a race to win._ He focused on pushing more ki out. The increased thrust allowed him to break the sound barrier too.

Instead of a bright, rainbow circle that formed from the break, Blaze created what appeared to be a red, flame circle. It expanded like the sonic rainboom, but after a few seconds, the flames died off and left a gray smoke circle. It didn't grow in size.

The other thing was there was no trail of color following the Earth pony as he skyrocketed to catch up with the Pegasus. He soon caught up to Dash. Her face was in a little shock from seeing another creature flying as fast as she ever had

With a smile to her, Blaze shouted, "No, you can eat my afterburner!"

He pushed the most ki he has ever tried. The stallion sped away in front of Rainbow Dash. Soon afterwards, he reached Mach Two.

Instead of the fiery red circle, this one created a bright blue fire. It lasted long enough for Rainbow to fly through the center. Blaze was now creating a blue fire trail behind the path he was flying. It only lasted a few seconds before turning into smoke.

The finish line the other had created was approaching fast. It was a banner across two poles that was above them. Blaze flew just above it, causing the paper to catch on fire.

At the instant he crossed it, a thought popped into his head, _HOW DO I STOP?_ He frantically tried to do reverse directions on his ki as he waved all his hooves in a pattern similar to a back stroke.

The ponies and dragon on the ground saw he was getting close to the clearing edge. In a panicked voice, they shouted, "Blaze! Watch out for that tree!"

The out of control flying Earth Pony closed his eyes as he braced for impact. Nothing happened. He peeked through one eye. Blaze saw his nose was about one inch from contact with the trunk of the tree. With both eyes opened, he saw he was in an upright vertical position. All of his hooves were placed like he was hugging the tree.

Taking a big sigh of relief, Blaze floated back to his friends, who were waiting. The banner had burnt to ashes.

Rainbow Dash crossed the finish line and landed in front of her friends, out of breath. "How (breath) in (breath) Equestria (breath) did you (breath) beat me (breath)?"

They all turned and looked at Blaze with a questioning look on their faces. "What? I am surprised as you all are. I thought that I might have a very slim chance. I just never realized how high my ki strength was. I wonder if I can go even faster." he said.

They all dropped their mouths open from hearing that. Twilight, Fluttershy, and Applejack fainted.

Blaze, with a blushed look on his face, said, "Guess we should try and wake them before I continue."

The others nodded and started to try and wake them.

After a half an hour, they started to regain consciousness. Everyone was now under a nearby tree for some shade. Those three looked around to recall where they were. All at the same time, they looked at Blaze with the same surprised look. "You three have a nice nap?" the stallion said as he leaned against the tree trunk.

"What in tarnation did you say again?" Applejack asked.

"Well, before you three fainted, I said that I think I can go faster than what I was doing."

"How fast were you going, anyway?" Twilight asked.

"Well, breaking the sound barrier requires a speed of Mach One. I don't know the exact speed, but I was going at least Mach Two."

They all dropped their mouth open again, but no one fainted this time.

"Look, I don't know the exact science in how I was able doing it. The fact is, I'm not actually a pony, so Rainbow Dash is still the fastest Pegasus in Equestria. I'm a human with strange abilities that I'm still figuring out. A human freak that doesn't know why he thought of leaving his world because of some chaotic event." Blaze said in a frustrated tone. He got onto his four hooves and started to walk off.

"Wait, darling! We don't think you are a freak. We are your friends and do care about you. You just startled us. That is all," Rarity said. "Can you explain the last thing you said?"

"I rather not talk about it at the moment. It's a sensitive subject I am not ready to talk about. I will meet everypony before the rally at the library. I just need some time alone to do some thinking."

Before they could say another word, the stallion flew off and out of sight. He made his way to the top of a nearby mountain. The pony sat on a rock near the top. His mind was in a battle of decisions that needed to be made. _Can I really tell them about what happened? Will they still accept me for not being true to myself? There are so many things that could happen, I don't know what to think!_ Blaze place his fore hooves on either side of his head. _Just thinking about this is getting a headache. I really want to tell them. It's just that I was nothing back on Earth. No one would have really noticed if I did disappear. But here, they all like me. I have, friends._ He lowered his hooves and put a smile from this happy thought.

"Something troubling you, Swift Blaze?" said a pony behind Blaze.

He jumped in shock as the stallion turned around. He saw Princess Celestia was standing a few feet away from him. "How did you find me?" he said as he was calming his heart beat back down. He sat back down on the rock he was just on.

Princess Celestia moved to sit next to Blaze. She turned her head to him and said, "Twilight sent me a letter stating you flew off after stating something about some event that occurred back on your home world. I used my magic to detect you and teleported here. Mind telling me what is troubling you?"

Blaze looked at the ground in front of him as he replied, "I knew this topic would come up sooner or later. I've been trying to come up with the words to explain why I choose this and why I have my powers. I guess you can say that I'm afraid of wondering what they might think."

The Princess of the Sun wrapped a wing around his back. "Your friends do care about you and are currently worried. Whatever you tell them, they still will care about you. You have been helpful to your friends and they want to help you during this time." Princess Celestia rose from the rock and stretched out her wings. "Now then, let's head back so we can introduce you to the town."

"Sure. Let's fly back so I can get some more practice in."

"I would like that. Plus, it would allow me to see how you actually flew up here. Twilight tried to explain to me in her letter, but I think she was missing some things."

"I bet she was." Blaze stood up and started to float above the ground. "This is how, Princess Celestia."

"Interesting, I can see why Twilight would have a difficult time explaining this. Well, shall we get going back to Ponyville?"

With that, they flew back at a gradual pace. Blaze explained to the Princess about the ki energy and what it can be used for. When he told about the race, she wobbled a bit in her flight when the stallion mentioned breaking the sound barrier, twice.

They landed just outside the library's front door. Princess Celestia used her magic and went in first. Blaze quickly followed. Just as the Alicorn moved out of the way, He saw the six ponies and Spike were in there with worried looks on their faces. When they spotted the stallion at the entryway, their frowns disappeared and were replaced with big smiles. Blaze was then met with them running toward him. There was no time to react as he was tackled to the ground outside.

"I'm sorry for making you worried about me. I never had any friends that cared about me so much like you all do," said Blaze.

All the ponies and dragon got off of him. The red Earth pony looked at each one as they spoke.

"I'm glad you're feeling better. Also know, whenever you're ready to talk about that thing, please know that we will still feel the same way about you, no matter what." Twilight said.

Applejack said, "That's right, sugarcube. You have new friends who care about your well being."

"We don't care about who you were in your world, darling. You are here with us and we are happy you somehow came here," said Rarity.

"The joy you brought to my animals shows you are a very good human, and I'm happy to be your friend," said Fluttershy.

Pinkie Pie bounced up and down as she said, "The pranks you've pulled have been the best I've ever seen and everypony has enjoyed them. I can't wait to see your next one. Also, I always do my best to turn my friend's frown upside-down, so if you are ever gloomier, come and see me and I will cure that frowny face right off."

"I'm glad I met you. You have given me the determination to increase my training. Just knowing that somepony, or human for that matter, is out there and is faster than me. So plan on us having a rematch soon. I'm also glad you came here and keep on helping us when it is needed," Rainbow Dash said.

"Even though we haven't hung out that much yet, I look forward to hanging out with you and to do some guy stuff," Spike said. He got closer and whispered, "I can only take this girly stuff so much."

"As you can see, Swift Blaze, you have great and wonderful friends that truly care about you. You no longer need to hide about your past from us. We'll understand whatever you say and accept it as who you are," said Princess Celestia.

"Thank you, everyone. I'm deeply touched. I will tell you soon about my past, but today is not the day. I know now that I should tell you the truth about me, I just need time to get my thoughts together. Hope you understand."

"Of course we do." They all said.

"Now this is taken care of for the moment, how about we introduce me to Ponyville?" asked Blaze.

Princess Celestia replied with her own question, "When are you going to be turned back to a human?"

"I think the spell ends around 3pm." Twilight said.

"That is when the ceremony starts. I think the citizens will definitely be surprised when you change back."

"Quick question, will I be in pain again as I change back? It was some extreme levels when I changed into a pony." said Blaze as he rubbed the back of his head.

"More than likely." Twilight said.

"Then shall we hold off the event till you change back, Blaze?" asked the Princess.

"I think it would be best. That way I don't tarnish the minds of any young ponies with anything as I scream out in pain. Probably the safest place would be in the Library's basement. I'll just wait down there." said Blaze.

Twilight said, "Then we too shall go down there and . . ."

Blaze stopped her as he said, "No. I would like to do this by myself. I was doing my hardest to not scream any profanity during the initial transformation. I just don't know if I can hold it back again."

"We all understand. I shall inform the mayor that we are going to delay the introduction ceremony." said Princess Celestia.

"Thank you. I shall see you all in a few hours."

The stallion headed down into the basement. He took off the pony gi to avoid destroying it, during the change. Seeing the pony had time to kill, he went over and sat on the cot. Then entered his mind space.

In there, the area looks like a classroom. But not like ones in the United States. This had more of a Japanese feel. Blaze looked at the chalkboard and saw a note written out in English:

**_I'm sorry Mr. Smith, but I can't be with you right now. You know, the whole God thing and all. I left some scrolls on the teacher's desk for you to read and learn some new Ninjutsu. Have fun._**

******_\- G_**

"Well, at least now this explains the classroom layout and all." Blaze said to himself.

He walked over and began studying these new techniques. Hours later, just as he finished getting better with the last one, a massive surge of pain knocked him back to the real world.

Blaze rolled off the cot and onto the floor. The transformation process had begun. He didn't hold back on what he thought of the pain. "AHH! MOTHERFUCKING JACKASS! I HATE THIS SPELL! SON OF AN ASS RAPING BITCH!"

He continued to yell and curse as the bones rearranged back to that of a human body. The feeling is like having them stretched, compressed and on fire all at the same time. After several minutes, Bob was back to his human body, naked. As the pain subsided, he soon realized the condition he was in.

_Shit. I forgot to grab some human clothes to put on after I that._

Bob looked around for something to cover himself up. He noticed a gift package was underneath the cot. The human pulled it out and saw a card was on top of it. It said:

_Dear Swift Blaze,_

_Inside you will find the clothing you wore when you arrived. I had Rarity clean and mend it. I teleported it down to the basement after you have gone down. See you soon._

_-Twilight Sparkle_

The human, with a smile on his face, opened the box and put on the repaired gi. He picked up the pony gi, went up the stairs, and opened the door. Bob spotted some of the ponies were playing games while the others were chatting away about something.

"I'm baaaccckkkk," he said as he showed off his human form again. They looked at him with happy faces. "I hope none of you heard what I was saying as I was changing back."

"Not to worry. I placed a sound proofing spell around the basement so no sound could escape. We heard nothing," said Twilight. "I see you found the package I left down there."

"I did, and thank you. So where is the Princess?"

"I'm right here," The Princess said as she came in walking in from the outside. "Just got done talking to the Mayor about delaying the ceremony. We also chatted about some other business. It's good to see you are back to your human form again."

"It feels good to be in my original body again. You have no idea how much I missed my fingers," Bob said as he waved them about.

"I take it you are ready for me to introduce you to Ponyville?"

"One sec, want to test a theory that came to me while I was down there," Bob placed the pony gi down on a nearby chair. With quick hand formation, he transformed back to his pony form. "Rarity, would you mind helping me get my gi on?"

She cast a quick spell and the clothes appeared on the stallion. "There you go, darling. Now, why did you want to put this back on when you'll be going back to a human."

Blazed replied, "I'll tell you if this works. And sorry ahead of time if it doesn't."

He released the transformation and saw he was back to his human body wearing the original gi. The pony clothing was nowhere in sight.

With a smile on his face, Bob said, "That proved the first half. Now for the second part."

He redid the jutsu and changed back again. His pony form was still wearing the clothing.

"And that confirms my theory," said Blaze.

With a confused look, Applejack asked "Mind telling us what ya talking about sugarcube?"

"Gladly. As you see, when I changed into this form, I concentrated on being the pony version of me. The result of it is that I changed into what I last looked like, including the clothing that was being worn. I've discovered a different transform ability. This isn't like when I changed into Pinkie Pie and copied her movements. I think this style is called a shadow transform jutsu. The transformation is almost realistic and has everything that form has," Blaze turned to Rarity and said, "That's why I wanted to put the gi on you made, Rarity. It proved that this shadow transformation forms are stored somewhere in my mind. I get a real pony body instead of an illusion that can be easily broken. With this now, I'll be using it so I won't cry out in pain when I change."

"That's very interesting about this new ability. At some time, would you allow me to get some data on this too?" Twilight asked with her big eyes looking at him.

"Not a problem. Unless you are planning to cut me open like an, wait, I am an alien!"

"Huh?" All the ponies and the dragon said at the same time.

"It's another human joke. Going to need to work on which ones you ponies might actually get."

"If everything is good now, shall we get going to the ceremony? I hate to keep everypony waiting," said Princess Celestia.

"I'm ready. Let's get going."


	8. Chapter 7: Hello Ponyville!

Chapter 7: Hello Ponyville!

The group exited the library and made their way to City Hall. The ceremony is set to take place inside. The Princess was in front. The Mane Six and dragon were grouped up behind her. Swift Blaze was in the back. As they got closer, the red Earth stallion saw other ponies heading inside. None of them stood out of the ones he knew from the show, nor the ones that fans named.

Princess Celestia stopped in her tracks. She turned her head to the other and said, "Ok, everypony, Blaze and I are going to the backstage. He can meet with you all again afterwards."

The mares and dragon looked to Blaze with cheerful smiles. He said, "It's ok, everyone. I'll do my best to handle whatever reaction the townsfolk might do. I'll stay calm about it. All they need is time for them to get to know me as it did with all of you."

"Ok, Blaze. We know you can handle yourself. But, please be careful." Twilight said. The others nodded in agreement.

The stallion nodded his head back. Then, he followed the Princess to the back. There were a couple Royal Guard ponies standing on either side of the back door. They bowed their heads as the Princess went inside. Blaze was about to follow, when the two guards stopped him. They pushed him back a bit with the back end of their spears. "Halt! You are now allowed to enter here. Only the Princesses, the mayor, and the new guest may enter. Go back to the front entrance," one of the guards said.

Blaze replied, "I happen to be the guest of Equestria. So if you would step aside and let me . . ."

"HA! You can't be the guest! We were told it was a strange and freaky creature. You are a normal Earth pony wearing odd clothing," the other guard said.

"Freak!? Did you just call me a FREAK?" Blaze said in a louder tone. His left eye started to twitch. He looked at them and said in a serious tone, "Last chance. Please, step aside, so I can be introduced to the town."

"Move along or we will have to force you!" they both said.

Blaze stood up on his hind hooves. He placed one fore hoof pointing straight at them. The other was pulled back so it was near his head. With a smile, he replied, "Like to see you try."

The guards charged at the red stallion in an attempt to tackle him to the ground. Blazed jumped up and backwards to avoid being hit. In the middle of the flip, he transformed back into a human and landed on his feet, repeating the same position it was in before.

Those guards skidded to a stop in their tracks. They went from strong guard to full frightened mode. Blaze shifted his stance to a more offensive position, in case they charged again. The guards started to back up to the building.

"I thought you were going to force me to go to the front entrance? Or, did I scare the shit out of you?" said Blaze.

"Um, sorry about the confusion, sir. Your body as a pony was so realistic, we couldn't detect it was an illusion spell," one of the guards said with fear in their voice.

"Yeah, we really thought you were just another earth pony trying to get a back stage access," the other guard said with the same tone.

"Next time, ask the Princess that just entered before me if I'm with her." Blaze transformed back and walked to the entrance. As he passed by the scared stiff guards, the Earth Pony noticed a small, wet area beneath both of them.

Blaze saw the Princess was looking at a couple note cards. He walked up to her and said, "Excuse me, Princess Celestia, why didn't you stop the guards and tell them about my pony form?"

She turned her head to him and replied, "I wanted to see their reaction as well as yours. You are defiantly agile. I think you might do very well in our Royal Guard."

"If that is the best of them, I think your training needs an overhaul. Let's get through this first. I'll probably scare these ponies the same way when I go human form. I'll think about your offer and get back to you."

"Very well, wait for my signal to come onto the stage." She went around the backdrop and stepped onto the stage. Blaze heard all the ponies cheering for her. "Hello citizens of Ponyville! Today is a grand day. A new creature has come to our world and would like to be part of the community. Now don't be afraid of him. I know he's nothing like we've seen before, but I assure you that he means us no harm. You may have noticed him already and didn't realize it. He disguised himself as a pony so he could learn about the town and our customs. Please, allow me to introduce to you, Swift Blaze!"

The red stallion came around the backdrop and onto the stage. The cheers died off when the crowd saw his pony form. Only ones that continued to cheer were Blaze's current friends. All the ponies had confused look on their faces. One pony in the back yelled, "That's no strange creature. That's just an Earth Pony wearing some odd clothing."

Blaze stood up on his hind legs and replied, "Really! Then let me show you my true form!"

He released the jutsu. A cloud appeared around his form. Once it dissipated, a human was now standing there. All the ponies gasped at seeing him change. Blaze thought he saw a few faint in the middle, but none were Rarity. He cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. "Your Princess did say I was in a pony form to blend with the town until this introduction could happen."

Once the crowd calmed down, Blaze resumed his speech, "First off, I would like to thank you, Princess Celestia, for the nice introduction. I think I should explain some things about myself that you might be wondering about. I would only ask if you can please hold all questions until I'm done."

Some nodded while others whispered between themselves. "Ok then, let's start off with that my species is called human . . ."

"HA! I KNEW THEY EXISTED!" Lyra Heartstrings yelled somewhere in the crowd. "YOU ALL LAUGHED AT ME, SAYING THEY ARE MYTHS! HUMAN! HUMAN! I HAVE LOTS OF QUESTIONS!" Two Unicorn guards walked up to her. "No! I will not quiet down! I must get some answers from him before he gets away!" They placed her in a bubble barrier and took her out. "Hey! Stop this! I need to get my answers! HUMAN! I WILL FIND YOU!" The doors closed when they exited the building.

"Anyway, the place that I come from, there is no magic. We are a technological race where we used science to help with everyday living. We walk on two legs and don't have hooves. The bottom parts of my legs are called feet, and at the end of my arms are what are called hands," Blaze said as he pointed each body part out. "These tiny things at the end of my hand are called fingers and they allow us humans to grab things as well as other stuff," he said as he flexed them about.

"Now then, I am not your typical human. I've discovered that I have certain abilities. While you have magic to do some unique things, I use a different energy source within me. One of which allows me to change my form mimic the appearance of anypony. You've just seen me in my own pony form. I think I'll demonstrate by looking like another pony in this room."

Swift Blaze looked over to the Princess and give her a wink. She nodded as she had a good guess who he is going to do. The human placed his hands together is some formation. A cloud again covered himself. When it disappeared again, another Princess Celestia was standing there.

The ponies were gasped again. The real and fake Princess of the Sun mirrored each other's movement. They circled around each other so much, the crowd lost track of which one is real. With them panicking, Blaze decided to end the charade and go back to his human form.

Once the cloud dissipated, Blaze raised his arms as he worked on calming everyone down. He said, "I'm making this promise to you citizens, right now, that I won't use these techniques to cause any harm."

"For another skill I discovered this morning, any ponies here that were in or near the park?" A couple hooves shot up. "So you saw that Rainbow Dash, one of my new friends, was in a race with an unknown pony." More of the crowd nodded their heads. "Well, I was the pony she was racing."

A Pegasus that was off to the side shouted, "I don't believe it! You came in here as an Earth pony. There was no way you could have out flown her. Even Unicorn magic would not allow you to keep up. She's the fastest thing in Equestria."

Blaze replied, "I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but, " he started to hover above the stage high enough so they all could see. "I was that pony Rainbow was racing. It was just a test to see how fast I might be able to go. Be proud of her as she had me really pushing this skill. I've never seen a creature back on my world that can move as fast as she did. To even perform that sonic rainboom, I almost lost my concentration. I'm glad to have her as a friend. Don't worry, she already had me promise to a rematch in the future."

The ponies started to chant Rainbow's name. She flew above the crowd to accept the chant. Then, returned back to sit with the other new friends Blaze had made.

"That is pretty much the basics about me. Does anypony have a question for me?" the human said as he scanned the crowd

"How did you arrive here?" asked a pony somewhere in the middle.

"It hurt a lot as I fell from the sky."

Another pony said, "You just showed us that you can fly. Why didn't you do that when you were falling?"

"I didn't know how to when I arrived. These abilities, I'm still learning about what I'm capable of." Blaze looked to another section of the crowd. "Next question?" he asked.

"Why do you wear clothing all the time?" A Unicorn mare asked.

"Well, humans don't have fur all over their body like you ponies do. We do have hair on our head for the same reason you stylize your mane. The other reason is because," he cleared his throat as he started to blush. Blaze said the next thing very fast, "human males can't hide a certain body part like colts can. NEXT!"

A several mares in the front giggled as their eyes looked the human over. Seeing this, Blaze thought, _Oh, I think I'm going to regret that in the future._

"What is your special talent?" A little filly asked from the back.

"Well, I don't know if you would call it a talent. To me, it's more of a belief. I didn't have one until I was magically transformed into an Earth pony by Twilight Sparkle." Blaze rolled the sleeve up on his right upper arm. His cutie mark was revealed as he turned it towards the ponies. "As you can see, this symbol has two rotating pools. One of them is white, while the other is black. They are in perfect balance to each other. Back in my world, they called this the yin and yang symbol. It basically means balance. But, for me, I think this cutie mark means the balance of the body and the mind. That means I do a fair amount of work on my body to keep it fit. And with the mind, I keep it sharp so I am able to react fast to almost any situation. Everywhere you look, there is a balance in play. Here are just a few examples: the sun and moon, chaos and harmony, good and evil, and so on. The universe, like everything in balance so if something tips it too far, the devastation will follow." Blaze rolled the sleeve back down. Then, he said, "Who else as a question for me?"

"Do you have a special somepony?" A mare yelled from the crowd.

Blaze did his best to hold his composure as he replied, "Special somepony? I don't know the entire lingo here, but if you referring to a girlfriend, then I do not. I haven't been in this world for even a week yet. It's too early for me to think about that. I don't know even if I want one right now. So sorry ladies, this guy is keeping his single card for now."

Blaze raised one of his arms as he said, "I think that's enough questions now. I'll see you all in Ponyville at some point. I'm here to who knows when!" He started to wave. The ponies applauded and cheered for him. The human was about to walk off the stage when . . .

"Just hold it for a second there, Swift Blaze. There's something else the mayor and I would like to give you." Princess Celestia said. She then turned to the crowd to address them. Her horn lit up as she revealed an open scroll. "To help you get started in this fair town, Mayor Mare and I would like to give you this deed to three acres of land outside of town for you to build a house on and to your spec when you want to." She rolled it up and levitated it to Blaze.

He grabbed onto it and started to tear up. This was the biggest generosity he had ever received. "I don't know what to say. Thank you, Princess Celestia and Mayor Mare, for the generous gift, I really do appreciate it." The ponies started to cheer again as the human finally left the stage.

Blaze went outside and waited for his friends to show up. He saw them coming around the building very quickly. There was no time for him to dodge as Pinkie collided with him first, causing the two to land on the ground. "What an amazing gift to receive. I've never seen anypony get that from the Mayor and Princess. You're so lucky," Pinkie said while on top of the human.

Applejack said, "Come on Pinkie, get off of him."

Pinkie jumped off of him as quickly as he was tackled.

The orange mare said to Blaze, "Would you let me see that deed? I think I can show ya where the land is at."

Blaze got up and gave the deed to her.

"Ok, partner, follow me and I'll show you where your land is at."

The group followed Applejack out of town to a nearby hill. The human recognized it, as it was where he has been training each morning. Blaze smiled at the thought that this land was his now. _Hmm, Princess Celestia must have been spying on me each morning. I would like to figure out how and why. Maybe think of a way to teach her about how it's not nice to spy on others._

Rarity said, "What a lovely piece of land. It was nice of the Princess to give this to you."

"You are not far from my cottage. You can come by whenever you want to, if you don't mind," Fluttershy said.

Applejack added, "Blaze, you're also close to my farm. If ya need anything, come on over, sugarcube."

"So, when are you going to get in contact with an engineer to design and build your house?" asked Twilight.

"Let's not think about that right now. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm starving," Blaze said.

His stomach growled in agreement. Everyone laughed at this.

The group headed back into town and made their way to a restaurant. Blaze stayed in his human form. He figured this would be so the town ponies will need to get used to it. Upon entering the place, the chatter from the ponies already in there suddenly stops as every eye in the establishment looked at the human.

Blaze cautiously said, "Uh, hi. Can I get a booth for me and my friends?"

The hostess was a yellow Unicorn mare with a pink mane and tail. She stared at him with a big deer eye look.

"Hellooo, anypony home?" he asked. The human waved his hand in front of her face to get her out the daze she was in.

The mare shook her head. "Oh! Sorry about that. How many in your group?" She asked.

"There are eight of us. Can we get a booth, please?"

"Right away, sir. I'm sorry for staring at you. I have just never seen how, unique you are in that form." She levitated eight green menus to another mare. "The waitress will take you to your booth."

"It's no problem. I figured this will be happening for the first week or two. It's not everyday a creature from another world comes to your nice town."

"Thank you. I hope you enjoy your dinner."

The waitress led the group to a big, round booth. The human sat in the middle as best as he could. Everyone else were on either side of him. The chatter in the restaurant came back to normal. Blaze thought that some of the conversations might be about him.

Being back in human form, his choices were limited on what he can eat. While looking through the menu, he thought _Need to get some meat soon. Maybe I will ask Fluttershy for some meat tomorrow._ He decided on a simple garden salad, with no flowers, a vinaigrette dressing, and some bread. The other girls and Spike placed their orders. Once the waitress left, they all turned their heads and looked at Blaze.

"What? Do I have something on my face?" he asked.

Twilight replied, "Well, we were wondering what spell it was that you were going to show us next."

"Hmm, I honestly don't know what 'jutsu' I will learn. I don't exactly have full control of the learning aspects of it. They have been occurring in my sleep. Every time, it surprises me."

"Oh! I love surprises! One time . . ." Pinkie said as she goes into one of her odd stories. Everyone else at the table nodded at different intervals as they listened. ". . . and that is how Equestria was made."

Now that randomness is out of the way, Blaze looked to the white Unicorn and said, "Anyways . . . So, Rarity, would you mind if I come over tomorrow morning? I'm going to need a set of human clothes. Don't want to continue wearing the same thing every day. I still would like them to be like this gi, but I'll let you choose the two colors for each set. Just one tiny request, please don't do any pastel or girly colors. Also, I will pay for these, once I can find a job."

Twilight spoke up, "Oh! Princess Celestia wanted me to give you this and this note about it." The purple Unicorn levitated a pouch from her sack. It had a scroll note attached to it.

The human grabbed onto the pouch. Once the magic was released, he felt some serious weight with it. "What's this?" he asked.

"Read the note on it, silly." Pinkie said.

Blaze placed the bag down onto the table and pulled the note off. The contents read:

_Hello Bob/Swift Blaze,_

_If I know my student, Twilight Sparkle, I figure you are getting this after the ceremony, at some restaurant, and after you mentioned needing to get a job to get money. To help you along, I'm giving you this pouch of 7,000 Bits to help you pay for any expenses you are going to need to pay, until you're able to find a job._

_Your Sun Ruler,_

_Princess Celestia._

_P.S. You're pulling to your right a bit in your morning training. You should work on it._

Blaze immediately thought, _Ha! I knew the Princess was spying on me. Now then, I will have to pay her back, somehow._

The human rolled the scroll back up. Then said, "Well, that was defiantly a surprise." He looked towards Rarity. "How much would you charge to make seven gi and fourteen undergarments?"

Rarity replied, "Give me a minute, darling." The white Unicorn mumbled some stuff to her as she did the calculations in her head. "For a normal customer, I would charge One Thousand Bits for what you requested. But, for being one of my close friends, you would only have to pay Five Hundred Bits."

"Thank you for the discount." Blaze directed his attention back to everyone else at the table "Could someone explain me how your money system works here?"

"Our money is called Bits and comes in four different increments." Twilight stated. "A copper bit is worth One Bit. A silver bit is worth Twenty-Five Bits. A gold bit is worth One Hundred Bits. Finally, a platinum bit is worth One Thousand Bits. Would you mind telling me why you are interested when you have no money?"

"What do you think the Princess gave me?" The human said as he shook the money bag.

He reached into it and pulled out Six gold Bits and Two silver Bits. Blaze closed it back up and passed the money to Rarity.

"Here is the money for the clothes. Plus, a little tip for the work you have done and will be doing in the future."

She counted the money and quickly said, "Oh my! I could not accept that much of a tip. Having you as a friend is more of a tip I need." Rarity tried to send a gold Bit back to him with her magic.

Blaze held his hand up to stop it. Then said, "No, Rarity, I insist. Plus, this won't be the only clothing you will need to make for me. I'm going to need a tux for the gala, clothes for when it gets cold, and rain gear for when it rains. Please, accept the tip. I'll only be going to you for all my clothing needs."

Rarity nodded her head. Then, she levitated all the Bits and placed them in her saddlebag.

The human saw a Unicorn waiter carrying eight plates of food with his magic. The stallion was heading to their booth. "Looks like the food is here. Let's dig in." said Blaze.

They ate the meal in silence as everyone was too busy chewing their food. It was another great meal as they all had smiles on their faces. Once done, the waiter came back, collected the plates, and left the check.

Just as the mares started to fiddle with their saddlebags to get their money out. Blaze said, "Wait a sec, you've treated me to several meals already. Please, allow me to get this one."

Twilight said, "We don't mind, Blaze. You are our guest and new friend."

"Then let this friend take care of this meal. It's the least thing I can do."

The mares all nodded as they put their Bits away. Blaze picked the check up and looked at it. Then, counted out the right amount of coinage to include a tip.

They left the restaurant and made their way to the town center square. Before the human said it, Rainbow Dash said, "Ok, Blaze, which one of us are you going to ask to stay at their place for the night?"

"Let's see, I've stayed at Fluttershy and Twilight already." He turned and looked at the blue Pegasus. "I'm sorry Dash, but I can't stand on clouds. My flying skill requires concentration to keep me up. Plus, I don't feel like falling out of the sky again."

"It's no problem. Just one day, remind me to show everything about the Wonderbolts. You may like them as much as me."

"I'll take you up on that." He turned back to the others. In a game show style voice, Blaze said, "So, the contestants are Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie. Who will take a strange creature to their home?"

Applejack spoke up first, "I think ya should come to the farm. My sis was asking me questions about ya while at the ceremony. Plus, I can show ya to the rest of my family."

"Then I'm coming home with you if there are no better offers." Blaze looked and no other pony said anything. "Nope? Then sold to the orange pony with apples for a cutie mark! Come on down and claim your prize!" he finished with the game show voice.

The girls started to laugh at this while Applejack started to blush.

"Come on now. Stop it. Before I buck you to the next town." The group quieted the laughter down, but they still had a big grin on their faces.

"Ok, let's get going. I shall see the rest of you tomorrow," the human said as he waved goodbye.

Applejack and Swift Blaze headed to her farm while the rest went to their homes.


	9. Chapter 8: How much pain can you take?

Chapter 8: How much pain can you take?

The sun was setting as the moon rose to take its place. Swift Blaze could see a lot more stars in the sky. Nothing compared to living on Earth with the city lights everywhere. He and Applejack soon came up to a simple wooden fence that went around several hundred acres of apple trees. They passed through the entrance of Sweet Apple Acres and made their way to the house next to the barn.

Before they emerged from the tree cover, Applejack stopped the human and said, "Okay, Blaze, you gonna need to wait here. I have ta tell them about you before they see you. Don't want my brother to attack you and for Granny to scream. My little sis saw you at the ceremony already. I know she'll be overjoyed to meet ya."

"Not a problem. I'm sure your family will accept me with open hooves," he said.

The orange mare left the human by the trees as she went inside. After a few minutes, Blaze saw the front door flew open with a slam. Big Macintosh was charging at the human with an angry face. _Oh shit! He means to deal damage, if not, to kill me._ the human thought as he prepared for the tackle. The big red stallion made contact with Blaze. Instead of being pinned, the human changed the momentum so the Earth Pony was on the bottom and pinned.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!" Swift Blaze yelled into Big Mac's face.

His face changed to a surprise look from how quickly this creature was able to take him down. Big Macintosh soon started to feel the pain of the reverse tackle. "Sorry for charging at ya. Seeing you, a strange creature, out the window of my home, I completely ignored what my sis were saying. My gut was telling me you were going to cause some trouble." A pain shot through his body. "Ugh, I think something broke," he said.

Blaze replied, "Promise not to move and I will see where it hurts."

The big stallion nodded his head slowly. The human slowly got off him to not cause anymore pain. "Now, I'm going to feel around your body. Tell me when it hurts." he said.

By this time, Applejack came walking up with frustration being expressed. She said, "Why do ya always do this when something is strange to ya? Now ya got yourself injured. And just before applebuck season. What am I going to do with ya?"

"Sorry sis, I'm just overprotective of my family." He clenched in pain. "Right there, mister. Also, there's pain coming from my back."

"Looks like you may have a few bruised ribs. Possibly a dislocated back. If you want, I can try to help realign it. The pain will increase for a sec, but will get better after that," said Blaze.

With the pain increasing, the stallion said, "Let's get this over with. What do I need to do to help?"

"Big Macintosh, I just need you bite down on this branch so you don't chip your teeth. Applejack, can you get me some heavy duty rope?"

Applejack replied, "Sure thing, Blaze. I recon you have done this before?"

"Something similar. But, not to worry, this should ease the pain."

Applejack didn't like the sound of that. But, with the hospital on the opposite side of town, it would take too long to get proper medical attention. Trusting her new friend, she went to the barn and got the rope. When the orange mare got back, she and the human carefully helped the red stallion to his hooves. Blaze then tied the rope around the upper part his chest, behind his fore hooves. The other end was tossed over a high and sturdy branch.

"Alright big fella, I'm going to lift you several feet off the ground. The pain might increase, but please bear with it as it will lessen when I align your back," the human said.

Big Macintosh nodded and braced himself for the pain. Blazed pulled the slack out of the rope. He then focused his chakra to his limbs to maintain grip with the rope and the ground. He looked to the stallion and said, "You ready?"

Applejack's brother nodded, then closed his eyes. He was biting down hard on the branch in his mouth. Blaze reached out as far as he can go on the rope. With a mighty pull, the stallion started to dangle off the ground. You could hear wood being crunched on as Big Macintosh felt the surge of pain from his back.

"Hold it together, we are almost at the height needed." Blaze said as he struggled with the rope. It was a big old fashion tug-of-war in lifting the big stallion. The human's feet were digging into the ground with each small step he took backwards. Applejack was just standing there, unsure what or who she could help with. After several agonizing minutes, the height was reached. Blaze looked to the orange mare. "Quickly, tie this end to the tree behind me," he said as he struggled with the weight.

She moved as fast as her body would let her. With a couple spins around the tree and a sturdy knot later, everything was secured.

Blaze released his hold on the rope. Big Macintosh went down a little bit, but was still above the ground. The human was working on catching his breath. He flexed his arms and legs to get rid of the stiffness that built up. The stallion was still biting down on that branch as the pain was slowly increasing in his back. Once Blaze was ready for the next step, he said, "Brace yourself, Mac. There will be a surge of pain for a few seconds." He looked towards the orange mare. " Applejack, please, don't stop me in what I'm about to do. It's the best way."

"What are ya going ta do with my brother, Blaze?" Applejack asked.

The human didn't answer as he took a couple steps back. He then ran at full speed and jumped onto the lower part of Big Macintosh's back. The stallion gave out a loud scream as Blaze heard a pop in the pony's back.

Applejack ran over and pulled the human off her brother. She tried to get him to respond, but the stallion's eyes were closed. She could hear him breathing, calmly. The pain must have been so bad, it sent him unconscious. She turned to the human laying on the ground. She looked very angry. "What did you do! He's not responding!" she shouted.

Blaze held up his hand with the palm facing her. "Your brother is fine, Applejack. The spinal column in his back was being compressed, causing the pain he was experiencing," he said. He then lowered his arm and moved to a sitting position. "All I did was stretch it back out. For him, being as big as he is, this was the best way I could do it."

Applejack's face switched to a worried look. "Is he going to be alright now?"

"I believe so. He will just need some sleep. Can you get some bandages so I can wrap his rib cage? I want to apply pressure so nothing else moves."

She nodded and headed back to the house. Blaze untied the rope and lowered the sleeping stallion slowly to the ground. A few minutes later, Applejack came back with the rolls of cloth. The human started to wrap Big Macintosh's ribs while his sister kept him up on his hooves.

Once done, they both helped carry him inside the house. Applejack was in front and led them to his room. They placed him on the bed. Applejack covered him up and closed the door.

Back in the living room, Apple Bloom and Granny Smith were sitting on the couch. Applejack went and sat in a different chair. Blaze stood at the bottom of the stairs. He placed a hand to the back of his head as he said, "Well, not the best way I wanted to introduce myself. Don't know what could have been worse than bringing in an unconscious family member."

"It wasn't your fault to begin with. I'm just glad you didn't get hurt yourself, sugarcube. Can ya explain how in Equestria were you able to take my brother down so fast?" Applejack asked.

The human lowered his arm and replied, "Basically, I've learned some martial arts over the years back in my world. One technique uses your opponent's movement against them. That's what happened, I took his momentum of charging at me and used it to flip him onto his back. Finally, I pinned your brother down to avoid any more conflict."

"You thought of that in those few seconds before my big bro ran into ya?" Apple Bloom asked with big excited eyes.

"I decided upon a friendly method that was quick and reliable. I didn't want to cause any serious harm if I didn't have to. That's why I learned those different styles, to help in choosing the best way to deal with whatever situation that I might get into. Not to act like a jarhead that attacks first without thinking the best way to do it."

"Jarhead? You mean they go around with their heads in jars? That's silly. How in the hay do they eat?" Granny Smith said.

"It's a figure of speech. It means their mind is close to others' opinions. They're only focused on the objective."

"Wow, mister! You must be really smart to know all of this. I'm surprised your cutie mark is not something related to fighting," Apple Bloom said.

"Let me switch to my pony form. That way you can clearly see my cutie mark. Plus, I'll go into more detail about it for you. But first, please don't be startled by what I'm about to do. I will also explain how I can do this."

Swift Blaze performed the shadow transformation jutsu into his pony form. Granny Smith started to scream that he was a changeling. The old mare was trying to run, but it was at a snail's pace. Applejack helped calm her down and moved her back to her seat. Apple Bloom remained sitting where she was. The filly was clapping her hooves together in excitement for getting to see the close up transformation.

Blaze explained about the energy source he used to change. He then went on to go over his cutie mark in a little bit more detail than what he said at City Hall. When the stallion finished telling them about himself, all three Earth mares clapped their hooves together.

The stallion was engulfed in a puff of smoke. He released the jutsu and changed back to his human form. "Seeing how I told you quite a bit about me, do you ladies care to introduce yourselves? Or shall I just call you relative of Applejack?" Blaze asked as he sat down in an empty seat.

Granny Smith started out first. She told how her family came to this land, with caused the foundation of Ponyville. Apple Bloom went next. The little filly only said how she was going to school in town and how she helped out on the farm when they allowed her.

After the quick intro, Apple Bloom asked, "So, ya think I might get a cutie mark from learning martial arts from you, mister?"

"Please, call me Blaze. I don't think martial arts is for you. What I know, the style, would be hard to teach to a different species. Mainly because they are focused on the use of these hands." He brought his hands up again and flexed the fingers. Blaze placed them back on his lap and said, "I was taught to use these to protect myself and my friends, never be an attacker."

"I really wanted to know what my cutie mark is now! I can't find it if I don't try everything," said the little filly.

Applejack placed a hoof on her sister's back as she said, "Calm yourself, Apple Bloom. You can't force it to reveal itself. Your cutie mark will show when the time is right."

"Then how come Blaze got his so easily?"

Blaze replied, "I didn't. Humans never really find out what they are good at. Some do, but most have to do other jobs they don't like just to make ends meet. I went through many years of training to get to where I'm at. You can't learn this type of skill in just a day." _Unless this is the matrix._

The grandfather clock in the corner chimed up and signalled it was ten o'clock.

The human stood up and stretched out his arms. After a big yawn, he said, "Well, it's getting late. Applejack, can you show me to a bathroom with a shower? I would like to freshen up. Also, I would like to know where I'm going to be sleeping?"

"The bathroom is upstairs. The first door on the left. There are fresh towels hanging in there. For a place for ya to crash for the night, I sorry to say, but there are no rooms available in the house. You can either sleep on the couch here, or there is room in the barn with plenty of hay to sleep on."

"Thank you for the use of your bathroom. I think I'll take the barn. Don't want to wake everyone up too early. I have been going outside and doing some morning training exercises before breakfast."

"We are also early risers so we shall see who gets up first. G'night Blaze" Applejack said.

"Good Night Applejack, Apple Bloom, and Granny Smith. Big Macintosh should be taken to the hospital in the morning to make sure everything is back into place," said Blaze.

The human made his way to the bathroom and closed the door. As he looked at himself in the mirror, he thought, _When was the last time I washed this body? Running around each day feels like I haven't bathed for a week._

Blaze took off his gi off and looked at his cutie mark on his upper arms. The size of it seems to fit perfectly. Just like how they are on a pony's flank. Hmm, I think I'm going to need to have Rarity make the new clothing sleeveless. No point of having a cutie mark and not show it.

With that, the human finished undressing and hopped into the shower. He dried off and started to put the clothes back on. Blaze ripped the sleeves off his top before it went on. It was a little ragged, but his cutie mark was now visible.

Blaze left the house and made his way to the barn. Inside, he found a lantern. There were matches nearby to light it. With a light source, he headed up to the loft where a pile of hay was spread out. Once he made himself as comfortable as he could, the human drifted off to sleep.

Swift Blaze woke up to the empty mind space. As he looked around, the human worked on recalling other jutsu that God has placed in his head. The one he was really looking for was the Shadow Clone. It would help speed up the training by a hundred fold with that many doing it. The other was the element-based jutsu. The only trouble with that is, Blaze didn't know what his chakra was in tune with. None of that really matters as he couldn't locate any of this in his head. _Wish I had access to some Ninjutsu scrolls, but where in Equestria am I going to get those!_ The human grabbed his head in frustration.

Out of the corner of his view, a door appeared in his mind. He cautiously walked over to it. It slowly opened without him touching it. Through it, what he saw was an old style office with a big desk at one end. Blaze walked in and looked around. The door disappeared when he looked behind himself. _Well, guess this is God's doing, but why do I think I've seen this office before?_

**"You should know, you were just thinking about that show,"** the person behind the big chair and desk said.

Blaze said, "Hello God. From your comment, then this is the 3rd Hokage's office."

The chair spun around. Sitting on it was God, but he looked like Hiruzen Sarutobi, the 3rd Hokage of the leaf village. **"So, what are you requesting to learn tonight?"**

"I've gotten down most of the basic jutsu, but this might go a little faster if I could make Shadow Clones."

God opened a desk drawer and pulled out a small piece of wood. He tossed it to Blaze. **"Break that in half."**

Somewhat trusting him, the human did so. Once it broke into two, a powder mist of green rose up and flew into his nose. Blaze choked on it at first, until he could breath safely again. "What the hell! Couldn't you just give me a scroll instead of some strange, crazy, way to shove the knowledge into my head?"

**"Excuse me for allowing this old fart to have some laughs. Is there any other questions you have?'**

"Yeah, can you tell me what basic elements I am naturally towards? Don't have any of the special chakra paper to test."

**"I'm surprised you haven't figured it out. Think about what you have done so far,"** God said with a big grin.

"Let's see, I can fly, I'm agile and fast, strong enough to beat Big Mac, and I can shoot energy blast."

**"Well, what elements do those lines up with?"**

Blaze thought for a moment. Once it clicked, he shouted, "WAIT! ARE YOU SAYING WHAT I THINK YOU ARE SAYING?"

**"Correct, my little ninja. You can do Ninjutsu of all five base elements. You will still need to do the actual training with them first. I'll leave you with access to the techniques in your head. I can't keep popping in here each night to help you."**

"Thanks, God. Don't know if my mind can handle any more forced knowledge into it."

**"Anytime. Oh, I suggest you learn the Water and Earth style first. See you another time."**

With that, the room got engulfed in smoke. The space he was now in was a library with thousands of scrolls. _How ancient, wish it was digital._ The room disappeared and a computer terminal showed up with a projector. _Right, all in my mind._ Blaze searched up different advance jutsu he could potentially learn.

He called up his favorite clone style and watched how to do it. This was harder than the other techniques. Not only did he have to use a certain amount of chakra per clone creation, but the amount he can use is divided between him and the clones. _With all this math calculations, I don't even know how Naruto even mastered this. Oh yeah, Nine Tales chakra helped boost his. Lucky bastard._ Blaze started practicing it until the clone was perfect and not a pile of mush.

After those couple hours, he went back to the terminal and looked at some of the basic Genjutsu and how to release them. These require a lot more mental power as the caster had to create a space in the target's head that would either trap them or reveal secrets. After selecting a few. The human created a dozen three man teams to practice. One would cast, one would be the target, and the last to try and break the technique. This went on for several hours.

Once the clones departed, Blaze was hit with the knowledge they had learned. Being a Genjutsu exercise, it felt like being smacked with a chain mail glove. After shaking that off, he thought about what God said. _Why did he want me to learn Water and Earth style jutsu? What do those have that something cool like lightning would give me?_ The human slapped his forehead when the thought came. _WOOD STYLE! I CAN USE THAT TO BUILD MY HOUSE IN NO TIME!_

Blaze looked up the Earth style jutsu first and begun learning a few basic moves. Again, hours passed as the clones and he finished up before the sun rose. Satisfied with the practice tonight, he left the training space and finished sleeping the rest of the night.


	10. Chapter 9: Stubborn Pony

Formatting

**Author's Note:**

Hi Everyone!

Finally got this chapter done. Real world stuff has been keeping me busy.

In other news, I will be attending BronyCon in 2015 (Aug. 7-9). Looking forward to having fun and meeting more fellow bronies.

Blaze woke up the next morning again before dawn as usual. He headed out of the barn and looked at the farmhouse. Some of the windows lit up as lights were turned on. _Guess it's a tie_, the human thought.

He left the farm in his morning jog for a few miles. Then, he did some training on the hill he now owns. With the shadow clone technique under his belt, Blaze created one to spar against. After a good two hour of training, the sweaty human headed back to the farm for some breakfast. Before going into the house, he went to a water spigot to clean himself and smell better.

"Good morning everypony!" Blaze said as he entered the house.

"Blaze! You just made it in time for breakfast. Care to join us, please?" Apple Bloom asked.

"But of course. My morning training always gives me an appetite. What are we having?"

The filly listed several apple-based foods that are very tasty. They were pretty much having dessert for breakfast.

"What do you think of the choices?" Applejack asked.

"Not only do you grow apples here, but you can make every food they are used in. By looks and smell alone, I think this will be better than what any human could make."

"Why thank ya, partner. Now let's dig in."

The Apple family and human ate a fair share of the food. Everything tasted so good that Blaze went back for seconds on things that he could get his hands on. "Now that was delicious," he said as he patted his stomach. "Glad you made enough. Now allow me to take care of cleanup. It's at least I can do for allowing staying the night."

Blaze to pick up the dishes and brought them to the sink. As he was washing, the human heard Applejack wishing Apple Bloom a good time at school.

Once the dishes were clean and were put away, Blaze left and headed to Rarity's place. Wanted to get the measurements done as he had no clue how long it would take. Upon entering, the white mare got into her introduction until she sees who it is.

"Oh! Blaze, glad you came early. I couldn't wait to start making all those outfits for you." Rarity then let out a surprised gasp. "Oh my! What happen to yours? The sleeves are torn off!"

"Yeah, I did that." Blaze said as he rubbed the back of his head. "After I was done showering last night, I decided I wanted to show my cutie mark that were on my upper arms. So, I tore the sleeves off. Can you make it so the gi outfits you are going to make will be sleeveless?"

"But of course, darling. I think you will look smashing with being able to show it off in your human form. Let's go over what I will be making for you, seven gi, sleeveless, I have color matching control, and you wanted no gems on them."

"That's correct."

"Moving on, a tux for the gala for your human and pony form. Fourteen undergarments of underwear, as you called them, and socks for the shoes you wear over your feet."

"I believe that's it for now. You know I'll come and see you when I need something else."

"But of course, darling. I believe I can have the first gi done later today. That way you'll have some fresh clothing for tomorrow to wear. I'm sure your current gi is getting dreadful without cleaning it."

"I'm glad for that. Thanks again."

A very low rumble was coming from outside. "What's that sound?" Blaze said. He opened the front door and saw ponies in a panic. One stallion yelled, "STAMPEDE!"

The human looked back to the mare inside and said, "Rarity, stay inside. I will help take care of this."

She nodded her sacred head. As the human finished stepping outside, the door quickly slammed shut behind him.

He moved quickly through the pony crowd, running in the opposite direction towards the disturbance. On the edge of town, Blaze saw a dust cloud come into view. In that, he saw a herd of cows going at full speed. Drown out the noise of the screaming ponies, he heard the voice of Applejack directing somepony else in trying to steer the herd away.

Seeing a need to help her out, the human decided to try a new jutsu. He got into the stance, did the hand signs, and said, "Earth Style: Stone Wall Formation Jutsu!"

A curved wall came up from the ground starting at the edge of the herd line and curved it in the direction Applejack was trying to get them to turn. She was successful as the stampede stayed away from the wall by at least ten feet. Once all the cows passed and stopped nearby, Blaze lowered the wall back down. He headed over to the exhausted Applejack and said, "You alright?".

The orange Earth mare took a couple breaths before she said, "I'm fine, Blaze."

She turned her head to the cows."Now then, care to explain to me why y'all was making you mad run into town?"

One went on talking about how a cow thought she saw a snake and that caused them to run.

Applejack understood where the cow was getting at and suggested that they steer clear of Ponyville. They all nodded and Applejack headed back to the farm with a little herding dog. The ponies in town started to cheer for Applejack for saving their town from destruction.

Mayor Mare spoke up and said, "To commend Applejack for saving our town, we shall have a celebration later this week to honor her with this year's award for Pony of Ponyville Award."

They all cheered again for this.

Blaze was standing nearby with his arms crossed. All he could think was, _I raise a six foot tall stone wall out from the ground and nopony noticed? Oh well, I wasn't doing it anyway to get more attention. Being the only human here on this planet is enough._

Somewhere in the crowd, Pinkie was going about of how excited she was for the party she has to put together now.

Swift Blaze went back to Rarity's Boutique. Upon entering, the white Unicorn mare demanded to know what happened. He told her everything that he recalled from his view.

Rarity said, "I'm so relieved that nopony got hurt. Now then, back to the business at hoof. Would you mind stepping up on the platform so I can start getting your measurements?" She levitated a tape measure, quill, and scroll from her work desk. "This is going to take some time as I have nothing to reference off of. Hope you don't mind standing still for a couple hours."

"I have an idea that should help the both of us. You get something to get my measurements off of. I get the ability to take care of other thing so that I'm not stuck here all day," said Blaze.

"What are you going to do, darling?"

"Something I learned last night in my sleep. Please don't faint or do something crazy for what you are about to see."

She nodded her head and moved to sit on her couch.

Blaze moved his hand into position and said, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

A cloud of smoke appeared next to the human and revealed a clone of himself. Rarity's eyes widen from the surprise. She tried to say something, but it came out gibberish.

Original Blaze said, "Rarity, say hello to my clone."

"Hello, milady. Shall we get started on those measurements?" the clone said.

The mare shook her head to clear the confusion that was there. She said, "Ok, Blaze or Blazes, would one of you mind telling me how you did this new spell? Duplication spells, according to what I know, can only be done by very high level Unicorns."

Rarity got up from where she was and went to stand next to a platform. She pointed to the Blaze clone and directed him onto it.

As she took measurements, the original human replied, "Well, I'm not a Unicorn and I'll say again that these are not spells."

The human clone continued the conversation with, "What these are called jutsu. I won't go into the boring details about them as I don't want to be poked by any needles by accident if you fall asleep. OUCH!"

Rarity did that on purpose for that comment. "Please, continue."

"Well, just like this one, I can also affect the area around me. Like the stone wall I had made earlier." Original Blaze said.

The clone Blaze added, "I learned that too last night. With these shadow clones for help."

"We act as separate beings able to do what we want."

"When one of us releases ourselves of the jutsu,"

"The other will get all the other one's memories since the jutsu was performed."

"This skill is good for scouting out enemy areas to gather intel."

"The other good thing is if there is need of an instant army, I should be able to make over a hundred clones."

"The downside is the same energy I used to make them, it gets split between the number I create."

"The plus is if an enemy does cause major harm to a clone of me,"

"It disappears and I still get the knowledge that one obtain."

"Wow, just simply, wow. How are you learning these 'jutsu' so quickly?" Rarity asked. "You've only been here for a couple days."

The original Blaze replied, "You remember I said that a super being had given me some abilities?"

The mare nodded her head.

"Well, I've discovered when I go to sleep, I can go to a space in my head that allows me to train and practice. That's what I've been doing each night. While my body is resting, my mind is learning a new skill. I don't know how much I can learn, but I think some would come in handy. Like that wall formation to steer the herd of cows."

"Simply amazing, Blaze. I can't imagine how you humans could live without magic. Why, if I didn't have my horn, I don't know what I would be doing. How ever did your kind ever come up with such interesting abilities?"

"I can't really say. I just feel that these are to help me with something in my new life here. Don't know what that is yet, but I'm sure I can handle it."

"Well, whatever it is, know that you have friends here that can help you if you can't."

"Thanks Rarity. Well, I am off to do other things. You can tell the other me when you are done with him. Don't want to cause anypony a headache if they see multiples of me yet."

Swift Blaze left the boutique and headed to the library. As he entered, he saw Spike was stacking the shelves with books. The human guessed that some were returned ones and the rest were what Twilight had finished reading for the moment.

The purple Unicorn mare had several books around her as she was writing down stuff onto scrolls. Spike turned his head and saw Blaze at the door. Before the dragon said something, the human had placed a finger over his mouth. Spike recognized the motion to him to stay quiet. He nodded his head and watch what Blaze was going to do.

The human closed the door quietly and snuck inside. As he moved stealthy to get behind Twilight, Blaze had to duck under some of the flying books to get close enough. Once there, he waited a few minutes to see if she was aware of his presence. She wasn't.

Blaze inhaled deeply and said, "HI TWILIGHT!"

The purple mare literally jumped onto the ceiling. The books that were under her control flew in different directions, slamming into walls and other books.

While hanging from an interior branch, Twilight looked for the culprit. She screamed, "Blaze! What the buck was that for! You nearly scared me out of my skin."

The human was on his back, on the floor, laughing very hard. Spike soon joined in the act. The mare teleported back to the ground floor and started to gather the books back under her control.

Once Blaze could get hold of himself, he got to his feet and said,"Sorry about that. I just wanted to prove that you're too focused on your studies. It's great to have a passion to study and learn. You just can't be nose, or muzzle, deep in it and not be aware of your surroundings. What if the town was on fire?"

Twilight responded, "Oh, the Pegasus would gather rain clouds to help put the fire out. Plus, there are several Unicorns with the fire department that can either generate water, or put a bubble shield around the fire to snuff it out."

"That's not the point I was getting at. It's true that I did sneak in to get you, but that's because I saw how you were and recalled I was the same way back in college. You can't study for several hours straight. Take a break from it to clear your head and so you can hang out with friends. If I was a betting man, I tell you were so focused on whatever you are working on, you must not have noticed a stampede of cows an hour ago."

"There was a stampede of cows? What happened?" she asked, surprised.

Blaze told the events of what happened and how there is now going to be a celebration in Applejack's honor.

"Oh! I need to write a speech for her as to how wonderful she is. If you excuse me, I need to get started."

"Well, I'll just do some more reading on the other different creatures here. Also, get started on the aerial training from Rainbow Dash. Plus, have Rarity finish getting my measurements for my clothing."

Twilight completely ignored Blaze she started to write on some note cards.

Spike has a confused look on his face as to what the human said. "How in Equestria are you going to do all three of those at the same time?" Spike asked.

Blaze smiled and said, "Like this, Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Another clone of the human appeared beside Swift Blaze. Spike's expression was what one would expect, shocked with his mouth wide open.

"I shall explain after you get me that creature book I was reading here last time."

The little dragon rushed off to another section of the room. The Blaze clone walked to the front door and opened it. Before stepping outside, he said, "Goodbye Twilight, I'll see you sometime later."

The purple mare waved her hoof behind herself in the general direction where the sound was coming from. Her head didn't move from where she was looking.

Spike came back with the book in his claws. Blaze went over the new jutsu he learned last night. Then, how he learned another that can form walls from the ground itself.

Spike paid attention to every word as he was very interested in how quickly this creature he just met was was learning new things. "Is there anything you can't learn, Blaze?" he asked.

"I'll let you know when I discover it," Blaze replied.

The purple dragon went back to his choirs and the human start reading where he last left off.

\- Meanwhile-

(This is the Blaze that left Twilight's.)

Looking around, Blaze spotted a rainbow tail hanging over a cloud. He floated up to it and saw the mare was taking a nap. _Typical Dash. I'm going to have some fun with this._ The human leaned closer to her and whispered into her ear, "Hello Dash. I have your first mission as a Wonderbolt. Do you accept the mission?"

Her head nodded as she sheepishly said, "Sir, yes sir."

"Your mission is to train the human, Swift Blaze, in aerial moves until further notice."

"No thank you, sir."

"You have no choice Rainbow Dash. Now," Blaze shouted, "WAKE UP!"

She jumped off the cloud, causing it to dissipate. The human was laughing as he held onto his stomach.

"What the buck was that for, Blaze?" she demanded with a pissed off tone.

"It was a harmless prank. I actually wanted to see if you will still honor that promise."

"I remember it. I train you how to fly better and I'll keep my word. From now on, don't ever wake me like that again. I might have bucked you."

"Noted. So what is the first lesson, teach?"

"Need to judge how you are now. Copy what I do until you can't do it."

"Roger that, wing leader."

That comment got a chuckle out of her. They took off as they played 'follow the leader'.

\- Meanwhile-

(This is the Blaze that is at Rarity's.)

After hours of standing still and being poked to hold clothing up, the human was finally allowed to get off the platform. As he popped several joints, he asked, "Anything else you would like me to do before I take my leave?"

"That will be all, Blaze. I have what I need to make your order. Now then, if you would excuse me, I am getting into the zone as it were." She headed off to the workshop in the back humming a tune.

Not wasting any time, the clone released the jutsu and disappear from Rarity's.

(Going to the Blaze at Twilight's)

While this Blaze was reading about a tiny little ball creature that lives in the Everfree Forest, he jolted to a standing posture from the rush of memories and annoying pain that filled his head. As he shook some of his limbs, he said to himself, "Ouch. Hope I don't have to stand still again for Rarity. Those pokes of the needle really hurt."

"You said something, Blaze?" Spike asked.

"Nothing, Spike. Just got a cramp from sitting so long. You can go back to finishing your chores."

The dragon shrugs his shoulders, then continued stacking the books away.

The human looked over to where Twilight was. The Unicorn had filled out about fifty note cards for the speech about Applejack. As he watched her, Blaze thought, _I don't think she will even read one, with how Mayor Mare likes to keep things simple. Wait a minute, this morning event seemed familiar for some reason. Was it from an episode? What was it about? Shit!_ Blaze brought his palm to his forehead and smacked it. _It was applebuck season! That idiot Applejack is going to try to do it all by herself. Big Macintosh is injured because of me. I have to get her to ask for help before she causes those problems._

The human closed the book and turned towards the dragon. "Spike, I need to take care of something. Make sure Twilight will be ready for the ceremony," Blaze said.

Spike nodded as he continued to look at the human. With a quick hand placement, the jutsu was released. His body was engulfed in smoke and disappeared.

\- Meanwhile-

(This is the Blaze that is with Rainbow, doing some training.)

Swift Blaze was barely able to copy all the basic moves Rainbow Dash had shown him. Not bad for a human that has only been ki flying for a few days. They just started on intermediate level of moves. Blaze just finished doing the first one when the clone's memory from Rarity rushed into his head. He lost his ki focus from the pain the other had endured. It was only for a few seconds, but it caused him to fall roughly twenty feet.

"Well, that smarts," Blaze said as he too shook the pain from his limbs as he floated in the sky.

Rainbow Dash saw the human drop during that time and rushed to his side. "You ok there, Blaze?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm good. Just lost concentration for a sec when the clone at Rarity released their jutsu."

"A clone? You must be pulling my wing. Very funny joke."

"No jokes, honest. I also have another one at Twilight doing some studying."

"Prove it."

"Ok, then. Let's land down in that open field to do this. I'm not ready to do ki and chakra control at the same time."

The two flyers landed in the center of the space. Rainbow Dash was standing in front of Blaze, with a waiting look on her muzzle.

The human said to her, "Haven't we reached the point to where you can believe me in this?"

She replied, "Maybe, I would have, if you didn't pull the prank to wake me up."

"Just admit you like it when I show you something new. Am I as cool as you yet?"

"Need to be about twenty percent cooler to get to me."

"At least I know where I stand in comparison. How many do you want me to make of me?"

"Fill the field."

"Ok, don't say I warned ya."

Blaze focused on gathering as much chakra as he could muster. This was going to be the biggest amount he has ever done. A tiny red hue was starting form around the human's body.

With his hands finished doing the correct signs, Blaze shouted, "Massive Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

A massive cloud of smoke filled the field. When it dissipated, every direction you looked, you could see hundreds of the human. All were looking towards the center.

Rainbow Dash's mouth was wide open as it could get with an awestruck look.

"You ready to believe me now, Dash?" they all said at the same time.

The blue Pegasus fainted like a stiff goat, lying on her back with her hooves up straight. The original that was standing across from the mare thought, _I think I broke her._

He released the jutsu and all the clones disappeared.

"Dash, you ok? The multi's of me are gone now. Come Rainbow Dash, we still need to determine the level of flight I'm at before you can teach me."

Dash came to and stood back up. "I think I should trust you in what you can do from now on. Don't want to see anypony seeing me faint like that. That never happened, agreed?" she said as she stared at him.

"What happen? We just landed because I needed to take a break."

The mare nodded and understood where the human was going.

At that moment, the memories from the Blaze that was at the library popped into his head. He quickly went through them. Getting what the other wanted to get across, he said, "Hey Dash, mind we continue this later? I just remember that I have to ask Applejack something. See you tomorrow?"

"Sure thing. I need to take care of some weather stuff for this evening." Rainbow bolted off into the sky in some direction, doing some fancy aerial moves at the same time.

The human made his way back to Sweet Apple Acres. He went over possible methods he could try to convince the orange Earth pony to accept help. He first headed over to the farmhouse to see how Big Mac was doing. Blaze knocked on the front door. It was Granny Smith, who answered. She said, "Hi Blitz. Fancy seeing ya here. What brings you to our home?"

"Hi, Granny Smith. I just came by to check on Big Macintosh. Wanted to see how he is doing from our tussle last night."

"He's upstairs in his room. Doc says for him to relax. Couldn't understand the rest with all the fancy words he was using."

"Thanks. I'll head up and give him some company."

Swift Blaze entered the house and looked around. He saw Apple Bloom was doing some homework in the living room. He headed upstairs to the stallion's room At the top, the human saw the door was already open. Blaze knocked on the door as he poked his head inside and said, "Is this the room of the idiot who decided to attack a creature he didn't know and got his flank handed to him?"

The red Earth pony was lying on his stomach, on the bed, reading a book. He had bandages wrapped around his chest area. The stallion looked up and said, "Eeyup."

The human walked in and stood a few feet inside."How are you doing, Big Macintosh?"

"I could be better, mister . . . ?"

"Oh, right. We haven't been properly introduced, my name is Swift Blaze. Sorry about getting you injured."

"I'm the one who should be sorry for attacking you without a good reason."

"Seeing we're both sorry, let's just forget about it. What did the Doc say?"

"He said I'm lucky for getting my back realigned when I did. It could have been much worse. I would like to thank you for that. All I have left are those bruised ribs you mention and swelling around the back. I can't do any work outside and that is bad because it is applebuck season."

"I heard a pony in town mentioning it. What is it?"

"It's the time of the year when all the Apple families do the major harvesting their apples all across Equestria. Usually, my sis and I could handle the fields we are owned by ourselves. I just can't do it this season because of my recklessness." Big Mac gestured to his bandaged side.

"Can't the rest of your family help?"

"Granny's too old and Apple Bloom is too young to help out. I tried to convince her to get some help from her friends, but she doesn't want any. She's going to try and prove she can do it all by herself. I'm worried she'll get too exhausted and still try to help her friends out that she's agreed to."

"And you have tried everything you can think of to convince her to ask for help?"

"Eeyup."

"Would you mind if I tried something? I don't know if it will work on a pony, but it may help her realize what her action might cause. What I'm talking about is using a technique I've recently learned that will plant an illusion in her mind. I'm going to promise you that she won't suffer, but it might break her stubbornness. If it does, and she will accept help, I'll offer my help around here until you get better."

"At this point, I will try anything. You can do this, thing, only if I come with you. More to watch so nothing bad happens. This isn't up for discussion."

"Seems fair. Ok, you have yourself a deal. So, where can we find Applejack?"

"In the South Fields is where we start each season. That's where she'll be."

Big Mac slowly got out of bed. Blaze helped him to reduce the pain. They made it out of the house and made their way to where the orange mare should be.

In the distance, the human was hearing the sounds of a hoof, hitting a tree trunk, hard. A few seconds later, sounds of apples falling into wooden buckets. Soon afterwards, they spotted Applejack. She was loading another cart full of apples to take to the barn.

"Hey, Applejack! What are you up to?" Blaze yelled as they got closer.

The orange Earth mare looked in their direction and said, "Big Bro! What the hay are you out of bed? You need your rest so you can get better. You didn't need to show Blaze where I was at."

"Applejack, Blaze wanted to talk to you about why you won't accept help from anypony," Big Mac said.

The mare stopped a back hoof as she yelled, "I ain't going to go over this again! Us Apple folk never needed help from outside the family to take care of applebuck season. Now if would excuse me, I have trees to buck."

"Applejack, I can understand you want to follow tradition, but seeing it is part of my fault for Big Mac getting hurt, will you allow me to help?" Blaze asked.

"Sorry sugarcube, but I said I was going to do this myself and that is what I'm going to do. There is no pony that is going to change my mind."

"Well, luckily, I'm not a pony. Sorry in advance for what I'm about to do."

Applejack looked angrily at the human. She was trying to figure what he was going to do as she readied herself.

Blaze's hands joined together as he shouted, "Earth Style: Body Imprisonment Jutsu!"

Stone walls popped out the ground around the mare. They moved so fast, it pinned her body so she couldn't move. Applejack's head was still exposed.

The mare thrashed her head about as she tried to break out. "Let me out of here! When I do get out, you're going to get a serious bucking!" Applejack screamed.

Big Mac was stunned at what the human did. "What did you just do, and was that really necessary Blaze?" he asked as he tried to speak over Applejack.

Blaze replied, "I'll explain later what I did. But, yes, it was necessary for this next part. Applejack, look at me for a moment."

She does so with an angry look on her face. He formed the hand signs for the Genjutsu. The human thought, _Hope she likes this third person view of what would've happened if she didn't change. I think I recall everything correctly from the episode._

Her eyes went into a daze as Applejack was now under the jutsu.

"It should take about an hour for the jutsu to do its task. In the mean time, Would it be alright for me to help with some of the harvest? I can use it to get a workout done for today," Blaze said.

Big Mac replied, "You can try, but I don't think you can get much done. Your body doesn't appear to be that strong to kick the apple out of the trees."

"You're probably right. THIS form doesn't have the same strength as your Earth pony body," Blaze said with a smile.

The human did another hand formation and a cloud of smoke surrounded his body. When it dissipated, Blaze's Earth pony form was now standing there.

"I think this should be better. Don't you agree?"

"It's better, but still not toned for apple bucking. Try not to hurt yourself. Oh, and you still owe me an explanation on how you are doing this magic stuff without a horn," Big Mac said.

"I'll explain this while I work."

Big Mac nodded and went to a bucked tree to lay down next to it. Blaze carefully tested his strength to knock the apples down. It took several kicks, but they did fall into the baskets below.

As Blaze went from tree to tree in the vicinity, he told the other red Earth pony about the chakra and the different jutsu he had learned so far. The hour soon was coming up, so the human released his pony form so he could undo the jutsu. Applejack came out of the daze. She looked at Blaze with the saddest eyes, he has ever seen.

Blaze said, "I'm sorry, Applejack, for having to force you to watch that illusion. It was the only way I could think of to make you listen to reason. Will you please accept your friends to help you?"

She nodded slowly up and down. He released the stone that had entrapped her. The mare stretched her limbs for a few seconds. Applejack turned back to Blaze, took off her hat, and said, "I'm sorry for not wanting to ask my friends to help me. That trick of yours did open my eyes."

"Well, for now, please, allow me to help you today, then we can get the others for tomorrow."

"Even with your help, it's still going to take longer to get what we need to the barn."

"How many wagons do you have to harvest with?"

"Umm, we only have two. It's typically only Big Mac and myself doing the harvesting. Why do you ask?"

"I have another jutsu that will help out. Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Five puffs of smoke appeared behind Blaze and showed five more of himself. Then four of them said, "Shadow Transformation Jutsu!" They changed into the pony form.

"Think we have enough help now?" they asked.

Both Applejack and Big Mac had just been surprised at how quickly he made a workforce to help them. "That meda-thingy you do really allow you to learn some very fancy tricks. I think we might have a good chance to get this done sooner," said the mare.

"Just tell us what to do and we will follow them."

They got their instructions and formed teams to buck the trees, move the buckets to the wagon, and finally unload the wagons in the barn. One of the human Blazes helped Big Mac back to the house. Then, he retrieved the other wagon.

It was already late in the day, but they managed to get the quota for the day. Blaze returned to his human form and informed the orange mare he was going to have dinner at Fluttershy's for some necessary nutrients. Applejack understood what he was getting at and said goodnight to him.


	11. Chapter 10: Working the Farm

Chapter 10: Working the Farm

As the sun was setting, Swift Blaze made his way to Fluttershy's Cottage. He knocked on the door to see if she was home. A few minutes later, the door was opened up by Fluttershy. "Oh, Swift Blaze! What brings you here?" she said with a surprised voice

"Hi Fluttershy. I was wondering if I can join you for dinner and have some, uh, fish you said you have for your meat eating friends?" the human asked her.

"Oh, sure. Of course you can join me. I'm glad you are taking up on my offer. I just got done feeding my animal friends before making my dinner. If you want, if you don't mind, I could cook the fish for you. Or, if you prefer, you can have it raw."

"I'm not a big fan of sushi, which is raw fish. You don't have to cook it, honestly. I'm just glad you have some on hand. Right now, I don't have the energy to go hunting after helping Applejack."

"Ok, Blaze, I'll show you where I keep the fish. Then, I will work on my dinner."

"If it's alright with you, I would like to make you a dish from my world. I can make it vegetarian for you and add fish to mine."

"That sounds lovely. It's not everyday that I get to try food from another place. I'll show you where the kitchen is, too."

Blaze followed Fluttershy into her cottage. He looked around and saw several animals eating food pellets from their food bowls. Angel was being different from the others. He was having a fresh salad. The yellow Pegasus mare showed the freezer with the fish and where everything was in her kitchen.

"If you need any help, I'll be in the living room reading a book," Fluttershy said.

Blaze replied, "Thanks. It should be ready in about thirty minutes."

Once she left, the human looked in the pantry for the ingredients he needed. He pulled out rice, soy sauce, brown sugar, and oil. In the fridge, he found bell peppers, red onions, carrots, broccoli, zucchini, fresh ginger, and garlic. All the basic ingredients to make the stir fry. The human looked in the meat freezer and found the fish to be salmon, his favorite.

He placed a pot of water on the stove and lit it. Then, he started cleaning the fish. Blaze then gathered up the veggies and chopped them to the proper size to cook evenly. Once the water was to a boil, the rice was tossed in and stirred. The human then placed two skillets onto the stove over lit flames; one will be veggie only, and the other will be veggie and fish. He wasn't following a specific recipe as he has done this several times.

While Blaze was focused on the cooking, Fluttershy snuck back into the kitchen as everything smelled very good. She watched him mix different herbs and liquids in a bowl. Then, pour it over what was in the pans. Once it hit the hot surface, new smells she hadn't smelled before filled the air. The rice finished cooking. Blaze drained it and place it onto two plates that he had pulled out at some point. The first pan was emptied onto one and the other was emptied on the other.

Fluttershy went to the table nearby as the human carried the plates over with silverware. He placed the veggie one in front of her and the salmon and veggie where he was going to sit. Lastly, he went back to the kitchen to get both of themselves a glass of water.

Blaze said, "Dinner is served. Just be careful with the first couple of bites. It's still hot from the cooking."

The mare picked up some with her fork, blew on it for a bit, then took a bite. Her face showed pure happiness. "This is amazing, Blaze! I'm amazed you don't have a cutie mark in cooking."

"I only taught myself in how to cook the dishes I like to eat. True chefs know how to cook any kind of meal with the ingredients they can get."

"Well, thank you for cooking it. I might ask you to come over more so I can see what other dishes from your world you can make."

"I would like that. Once I get my own place, you can come by anytime too, if you want to eat more of my cooking."

"That would be lovely."

They finished eating and Blaze helped with cleanup. He said, "Goodbye, Fluttershy. I'm heading back to Sweet Apple Acres. I'm just helping out on the farm while Big Mac recovers."

"Oh, I'll stop by tomorrow to check on him. Good night, Blaze. Have sweet dreams," she replied.

Once the human got back to the barn, he saw a cot was placed where he had been sleeping the night before with a blanket. _Guess they want to make sure I get good rest tonight,_ he thought with a smile on his face. Next to the bedding was a package wrapped up with a fancy bow. Blaze opened it and looked inside. His smile went bigger as there was a new Green gi outfit with white trim inside. Underneath, were all the undergarments he'd asked for. The human thought how nice it was of Rarity to deliver it here. He was excited to see what the other ones will look like.

Blaze placed the box next to the bed and went to sleep. Inside his head now, he made several groups of shadow clones. The first set practiced more water and earth style jutsu. The next went to practice the aerial moves Rainbow had him copy. He couldn't wait to start working on trying to learn wood style. That will be very helpful in building his house. Blaze only continued this training for a couple hours. He wanted to get a full rest for the work he said he will do.

Next morning, the human woke up at the usual time. He decided to skip the morning training. Going to get plenty of work outs on the farm for the next couple days. Blaze snuck into the farmhouse with his new clothes and headed to the upstairs bathroom to clean up. He didn't hear any movement from the bedrooms.

Once inside, he closed the door and began to undress. Blaze had his gi off and in a pile on the floor next to him. Just as he had two thumbs tucked inside the waistband to remove the undergarments, the door opened all the way. The human quickly turned his head and saw Applejack was standing there, with a groggy look on her face.

"Applejack! Don't you know to knock!" Blaze shouted. Then, he slammed the door in her face.

"I'm sorry there, Blaze. I'm just used to being the first one to wake up and use the bathroom," the mare said with a sad tone in her voice from the other side of the door.

Blaze calmed down and replied, "It's alright. That was kinda an auto human reaction to that type of event. Don't think anything wrong about it."

"Alright. So, when did you come back last night?"

"I guess it was sometime after you ponies went to bed." Blaze continued with taking off his clothes. "I'm also sorry for snapping at you. Where I'm from, the human species don't like to expose ourselves to strangers. I'm going to take a quick shower and be out quickly."

Blaze turned the shower on and hopped in. Once all clean and dried off, He put the new clothes on. They fit nicely, the fact being it was Rarity's first time to make it for his species. He exited the bathroom and saw Applejack was sitting next to the door, with a sad look on her face.

The human lowered himself to sit on his heels and be at the same level with her. He placed a hand on the mare's shoulder and said, "It's ok, Applejack. You couldn't have known how humans feel about being naked in front of others. I'm not mad at you. Now then, cheer up, clean up, and I'll get some breakfast going."

Applejack looked into his face and said, "Ok, Blaze. I'm sorry again for doing that. I've been meaning to get locks on that door. You can see that we ponyfolk don't wear clothes all the time, so we are used to seeing everything."

"I believe I know what you're getting at. Now, get in there and let's just forget this completely."

As the orange Earth pony went into the bathroom, the human went to the kitchen. Blaze gathered the stuff to prepare a special pancake batter that he believed the Apple Family will laugh about when they hear what the human's call this dish. As he started to cook them, he heard the others getting up.

The first to arrive was Apple Bloom. The little filly said, "Morning Mister Blaze, what smells good?

Blaze replied, "Good morning to you too. I'm making breakfast this time. Your sister is in the bathroom at the moment. If you would like to help, can you set the table?"

"Right away! Hope you make enough for everypony."

Apple Bloom scurried about with the plates and glassware to the dining room table. As she was finishing up, Granny Smith and Big Mac came down. They helped each other to the table. Blaze said good morning to them and they replied back with the same response. As the human was making the last batch, Applejack came down and joined the others. Blaze turned off the stove before he brought the platter with the special pancakes to the table. Before he could sit down, the other ponies started to take some and taste it.

"YEE-HAW! Those are some mighty tasting pancakes. What do you call them, Blaze?" Applejack asked.

"You," Blaze replied with a big grin.

"You? That's a strange thing to call them."

The human started to chuckle a bit. "Not 'You' you. Its name is you."

"I don't get where you are getting at, partner. Mind just telling what the name is?"

"The name of this dish is called applejacks."

All the ponies started to laugh, while Applejack was blushing. Blaze joined in the laughter.

They finished breakfast and the human helped with the cleanup. He then helped Big Mac back to bed before he joined Applejack outside. She was saying goodbye to Apple Bloom as she was going to school.

The orange mare said, "Ready to get to work, Blaze?"

For a response, he repeated the jutsu he did yesterday. Once the smoked cleared, they all shouted, "Ready!"

The workforce continued clearing the south field of the apples. They took short water breaks when needed. Most of all, everyone was having fun. When lunch time came around, half the south field was done. Applejack snuck away at some point to prepare some peanut butter and apple jelly sandwiches for lunch. The mare made enough for all of Blaze's clones to eat too.

As the group continued working through the afternoon, the human had a feeling that something was watching him. He couldn't figure out what it was, but it has been there for some time. The other clones detected this also. They nodded to each other to continue the work without looking suspicious.

Blaze finally spotted what was looking at them in the corner of his vision. It was a very small portal hovering above the trees. Best size guess would be about the size of a camera lens. The human picked up an apple from a bushel and threw the fruit at it. It went straight and true and flew into the portal. He heard a faint scream as the portal closed. A letter popped in front of him with Princess Celestia's seal on it. He opened it and read the following:

_Dear Swift Blaze,_

_Impressive job of discovering that opening and being able to hit it with an apple. It tasted quite good by the way. If you are not busy tomorrow, I was wondering if you are now ready to discuss with me about your last moments on your planet and how you arrived here. I can schedule to be down there so you can tell me and your friends. I do want another time with you in private to discuss about those mental blocks you placed in your mind._

_Your Sun Ruler and 'eye' in the sky,_

_Princess Celestia_

After re-reading it for a second time, Blaze agreed that he shouldn't put this off anymore. He'll tell as much as he can, without messing with the possible future he may know.

Applejack saw that the human Swift Blaze had stopped working. In his hands he was holding a scroll. She trotted up to him and asked, "What's going on, Blaze? Did that come from Princess Celestia?"

Blaze rolled it back up before he said, "Yea, this came from her. She would like to have another chat with me and ask me a few more questions. Also, Princess Celestia wishes for you and the others to be there too. I agree with it." The human turned his head away. "There have been some things in the back of my mind, I've should have said sooner. I've just been trying to think of the best way to say it." He looked back to the orange Earth pony. "Would you mind coming to it?"

Applejack rubbed the back of her head with a fore hoof as she said, "I don't know. I still have a lot of apple-bucking to do. If both of us are gone, we will fall behind greatly."

"No, we won't. Remember, I can make more shadow clones to cover it. They'll continue to work for us while we do this."

"Alright, sugarcube, I'll join ya. I do have a few more questions, based upon what you said. Now then, let's get back to work. These apples won't buck themselves."

The two of them went back to work with the other clones. They worked until the sun had set below the horizon. Blaze released most of his clones, except for one. The human sent this one to inform the others about the meeting at Twilight's library with the Princess.

Applejack and Blaze returned to the farmhouse with empty stomachs that were giving a mighty roar. Granny Smith and Apple Bloom were taking care of dinner. With nothing to do, the human went to sit on the couch, or more accurately, fall onto it. He was still getting used to the aftermath of using these clones for long periods. He's grateful that he didn't collapse right after they vanished.

As Blaze sat there, he thought about what might have to come to light in the questioning, wondering what they will think of him lying about all of this stuff he's been doing, the ki and jutsu stuff. What will they say about his true self, a computer geek that spent his spare time on the internet, in one form or another, back on Earth. Well, it would be hard to say as they don't have the same tech level humans do now. Finally, the human couldn't avoid the main topic the Princess requested to learn. Maybe he should work on teleportation and substitution jutsu tonight, just in case.

"Dinner is ready, everypony!" Apple Bloom said from the kitchen.

This broke Blaze's thinking, with some help from his stomach growling. He got up and made his way to the table. The human saw that on the table were two salad types and the usual apple deserts that were popular. The first salad was a veggie-based one, with what he's probably guessing is an apple style dressing. The other one is just different fruits that were cut up and tossed, that included apples. Blaze only went for a good serving of these, while the Apple family was eating a bit of everything.

Some time later, as they finished eating and settled down in the living room, there was a knock at the door. Apple Bloom quickly went over and opened it. Standing there, was the pony form of Swift Blaze. "What the? I thought you . . ." the young filly said as she looked back and forth from the living room and the door. "AHHH! It's a changling! Run everypony!" she screamed at the top of her lungs while running away.

Before this filly could run up the stairs, she was yanked back and had hooves holding her around her body. Apple Bloom thrashed about, trying to break free. She soon saw it was the pony that was standing at the door that had her. This caused her to want the break the hold more.

"Calm down, Apple Bloom. I'm not this changeling you ponies keep calling me," the pony Blaze said.

"Yeah, right! Then how come you look like my friend's pony form when he's sitting right over there?"

The human Blaze replied, "That's because that is one of my clones I can create."

"What the? There are more of you in Equestria?" Granny Smith asked.

"No, this is just another one of those fancy magic things I can do. I'm too tired to go into details." The human Blaze turned his head to the pony Blaze, "Why are you still around? I thought you would release yourself after visiting everyone."

The clone replied, "I would have, boss, but I had to bring back a package from Miss Rarity. I left it in the barn next to the cot."

"Wow, she really worked fast finishing the other outfits."

"Before you ask, I did thank her for doing them."

"But, it still doesn't explain why you had to walk over here and tell me directly."

"Well, I wanted to see the filly's expression on seeing two of us. It was funny, right, boss?"

The human Blaze gave a small chuckle. Then he said, "Yea, I guess it was."

"I'm still here, ya know," Apple Bloom said while still being held by the pony Blaze. "I've calmed down. Think you can let go of me?"

"Oh! Sorry about that." He set the filly down gently before releasing his hold. "We good, Apple Bloom?"

After the filly adjusted the bow in her mane, she said, "Yea, we are. I didn't see that coming. Now I'm looking forward to the next thing you'll do."

"Well, it will have to wait until later. I have a meeting with the Princess tomorrow and should get my rest."

The pony form released the jutsu and his memories merged with the human. He got up and said, "As the other me stated, I need to hit the sack and get ready for some of the questions that might come tomorrow."

"How in Equestria are you going to prepare to answer questions you don't even know?" Applejack asked.

"I'm basing it on what has already been asked," then, in a small whisper voice, "and what I've read in other fiction stories." Blaze switched back to normal volume and said, "Good night, everyone. See you all in the morning."

They all said good night to him as he left the farmhouse. Inside the barn, he saw the package his clone got from Rarity. Blaze opened it up and began to take the clothing out, one at a time. The first one was a blue gi with black trim. Next, a red gi with black trim, a full black gi, a full white gi, a green gi with black trim, and finally, a black gi with white trim. The human was very impressed with how they all looked and their color choices. He couldn't wait to see what Rarity will do for his tux for the Gala. He folded them back up and placed them back in the box to keep them clean.

Blaze lay down and entered his mind. He first made clones to start learning the new jutsu he thought he should have, in case of needing an escape method. While they did that, he focused more on what he may have to cover and possibly have to reveal. There is only so much the human could show from his iPad. If possible, and they accept it, somehow, allow them access to enter his mind. Of course, he will have to be in control of what they will see. Can't let them wander into his personal memories. This only went on for a few hours before actually going to sleep. Blaze will need it to keep his mind sharp and in check of what's to come.


	12. Chapter 11: The Truth Comes Out

The next morning, just before Princess Celestia rose the sun into the sky, a human woke up in the barn at Sweet Apple Acres. Swift Blaze didn't mind this as he had gotten used to it.

He climbed out of the cot slowly as his legs ached a little from yesterday from kicking the trees as an Earth Pony. He stretched out his arm as he let out a big yawn. Blaze grabbed the full white gi and a set of clean undergarments before he made his way to the house. Up in the bathroom, the human cleaned up and got dressed. When he opened the door to the hallway, Applejack was waiting next to the door.

"Morning, Applejack," Blaze said, "Thank you for not barging into the bathroom while I was in there."

"Morning, Blaze. I did learn my lesson from yesterday," said Applejack with a little blush on her cheeks.

"This living arrangement won't be for much longer. I'm planning to work on my house soon."

The orange mare looked confused as she replied, "When did you schedule time with an engineer to go and build it?"

"I didn't. I'm going to build it myself. I will need a pony to do the plumbing and electrical for it."

Not wanting to drag this conversation out further, Applejack said, "Anyway, I'm hopping into the bathroom to clean up. You are going to make some more of me?"

"Only if you really liked eating yourself," Blaze replied with a grin on his face.

The mare blushed some more as she went in and closed the door. Blaze went to the kitchen to make the same breakfast as before. The others soon came down while Apple Bloom was setting the table. The human made a bigger stack this time. Everyone couldn't get enough of them as they got second and third servings of it.

Granny Smith insisted that the human didn't need to clean up this time. Blaze thanked her and headed outside. In the front yard, the human made four clones that, in turn, transformed into the pony form. He didn't need to tell them what to do as they already knew. They were him of course.

Applejack came out of the house a few minutes later. She walked next to the human and said, "Ya ready, sugarcube?"

"As ready as I'll ever get. Let's get going before I change my mind and make a run for it." Blaze jokingly said the last part with a tiny bead of sweat rolling down his face.

Applejack saw the worried look he had. The mare couldn't imagine what's troubling him in the back of his mind. She hoped that he didn't do anything foolish in front of the princess.

They made their way into town to Twilight's place. As they were getting close, Blaze saw a royal carriage was parked nearby. There were also several guards standing around Golden Oaks Library. The human wondered if these guards will give him a hard time like the last ones. As the pair approached the guards, they stepped out of the way and said nothing.

They entered the library and saw that the others were already here. Even Princess Luna was here. The two royal sisters were sitting on cushions in the middle of a half circle with an empty chair in the middle. The rest of the mane six were evenly divided on either side, with Twilight sitting next to Princess Celestia. Spike was sitting next to Rarity. He didn't register the others that just came in as he stared at the white Unicorn mare.

"Good morning, everyone. I see we are not wasting time in continuing the interrogation," Blaze said as he sat in the chair.

"What?" Twilight exclaimed. "This isn't anything like that! Now why would . . "

Blaze was snickering with a big smile on his face.

Applejack said, "Don't mind him. He's been Mr. Funny Bones since this morning. Why, he joked about serving me up for breakfast, again."

"WHAT?!" shouted several ponies, except the Royal Princesses.

"What she means is I served up some pancakes that had apples in them," Blaze replied. "They are called 'applejacks' back on my world," he said while doing the air quotes. Getting nothing but nods from the others, the human turned his head towards Twilight and said, "As for what I said earlier, that was just to break the tension in the room."

"Ahh, I see." Twilight wrote down a few notes on the piece of paper next to her, with a couple hundred blank pages sitting behind her.

"Well, I see that those new clothes look amazing on you. I hope you like all the color combinations," said Rarity,

Blaze replied, "They're perfect. I'm more amazed by how quickly you were able making them."

"Once I had the first one done, I had to finish the others. I was in the zone as it were." The white Unicorn mare cleared her throat before she said, "Do your, um, undergarments fit nicely as well?"

Blaze blushed a tiny bit. "Yeah, everything is good."

Princess Celestia cleared her throat before she said, "Well, this is definitely going to be an interesting morning, Blaze. Before we begin, I just wanted to say that I'm glad you accepted to answer some more questions we may have."

"Not a problem, Your Highness, I figured that was why you may have been personally having been keeping a hidden eye on me. That is, until you don't consider me to be a threat."

"One has to protect thy kingdom and thy subjects," Princess Luna chimed in.

"So true, little sister," said Princess Celestia. "Now then, . . ."

"Um, before we begin," Blaze interrupts, "I don't know if this a good place to say everything. I know you have your Royal Guard around this place, and maybe a few spells in place for privacy. But, I think what you may want answers to, I just feel safer if it's a place that no one would have a way to walk into."

"I assure you, Swift Blaze, the guards have been informed to not allow anypony through that we haven't approved," said Princess Celestia.

"I know, the other thing is," Blaze rubbed his temples on the side of his head with his hands in frustration. "Ugh, I've been trying to think of the best way of telling some things, without being able to show them. But, can't get a better way of doing it."

"What about that flat, rectangular, thingy you showed that image from?" asked Rainbow Dash.

The human dropped his hands to the top of his legs. "It's called a computer tablet, or an iPad. And I've thought of that. The thing is, it doesn't contain everything from my world. It allows you to get access to other data locations, back on Earth." He let out a big sigh. "I wish there was a way you can enter my mind. From there, I can show you my memories and better explain stuff."

"There is a way," said Princess Luna. "We enter the dream realm and we shall connect everypony to your mind, if you allow the connection. We haven't been able to see your dreams at night for some reason."

"Hmm, I'll try to let you in, if everyone is comfortable with trying this."

"I'll agree," said Princess Celestia, "Only if two of my guards may stay inside the library as well as two that will go inside your mind."

"I don't have a problem with that. I'll also leave myself here to stand watch."

The white Alicorn Princess nodded and summoned four Unicorn guard ponies into the library with her magic. Blaze did the shadow clone jutsu and another human showed up standing next to him. Twilight, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie were somewhat startled at this. The guards went on the defensive, but Princess Celestia explained what was going on.

Princess Luna said, "Those who are venturing into the dream realm, please form a circle around the human. Lay down on a cushion so you don't fall over when I cast the spell."

Those on the floor pillows did so as two guards joined them behind the sitting human. The clone moved to the front door where the other guards were standing at attention. Once everyone was comfortable and ready, the Princess of the Moon's horn lit up as she channeled her magic. Small, rope-like strands emitted from her horn and floated through the air as they connect to their foreheads. Finally, a big strand moved to Blaze's head. Upon contact, they all closed their eyes.

With the group now asleep, the Blaze clone said to the two guards, "This is going to take a while. I'm going to get some stuff from my bag upstairs to amuse myself. Do you want me to get you anything?"

The Unicorn stallion guards remained at attention, standing tall and firm with their eyes looking forward. Neither one said anything.

Clone Blaze thought to himself, _Princess Celestia definitely knows how to pick them._

-Inside Blaze's Mind-

The human was the first to open his eyes. He looked around and didn't see the others around. He then noticed a floating computer window a few feet away. Blaze walked over to it and saw it said.

**Luna party requesting access to mind space.**

Below that there were three choices: Full Access, Guided Access, Denied Access.

He selected the middle one. The window disappeared and the group surrounded him in the same location as in the library. The ponies and dragon opened their eyes and saw they were surrounded in a vastness of white.

Blaze said, "Welcome everypony, to the inside of my mind. Watch your step."

"Your head is pretty empty, Blaze," Rainbow said.

"That's because this is where I go in my sleep. Here, I can imagine anything I need to help with my training. For example, let's have a tree sprouting up where you are, Rainbow."

The ground under the blue Pegasus shook for a few seconds. Then, a huge apple tree grew to full size as it engulfed her in the limbs.

Inside the newly formed tree, the voice of Rainbow Dash said, "Very funny." She then flew out of the tree and landed next to Rarity. The mare shook her head and body to remove any leaf that may be stuck to her.

"Easy there, Rainbow Dash. I spent two hours this morning beautifying my mane and coat for the Princesses," said Rarity.

"I think you are beautiful. No matter how long it took," said Spike.

"Aww, thank you, Spiky-wiky."

Blaze said, "So, I figure this space would be easier to explain things about me and humans as I can show you things easier instead of trying to get the words to describe it." Blaze looked around to the others. "Who would like to start first?"

"Um, can we go someplace that is more familiar? This place is a little strange, if you don't mind," Fluttershy asked.

"Sure, I'll recreate the library from where we once were. Remember, it may seem real, but it's all in my mind, not yours."

The library appeared around them. Like, a haze that was obscuring their sight. The cushions were arranged differently. They were placed in three rows of four in front of a podium that was next to a projector screen. The human went behind that as the others took a seat. The Royal Guards remained standing on either side of the space.

"Before we continue, I would like to make a request that you do not wander around in my mind. I've managed to let you in, but you can only look at stuff I show you. All of these books and rooms contain nothing."

Blaze looked at Princess Celestia and hoped this telepathic connection was active. He said to her, _I'll show you these thoughts later on, Princess, You'll see why I'm keeping them a secret._

The Alicorn nodded as she replied in the connection, _I expect you will soon. If you want to gain my trust._ The Princess of the Sun then said with her normal voice, "Can you please show us what happened to your world which caused you to come to ours?"

"Wow, the big question right off the bat. Give me a few minutes to gather the displayable items as I'll explain. It will take some time as I need to cover a few things before I can get to my last day on my planet."

A tablet materialized on the podium. The human tapped away as he gathered pictures and video he could recall from memory the best he could do. Once he was ready, the projector screen lit up as he talked.

Blaze said, "Ok, the first thing I'll need to go over was a prediction a group of humans called Mayans have made."

Various images of humans and their life style showed up on the screen.

"Now, through some mathematical thing they did, they calculated off when my world, planet Earth, was going to end. This prediction was over five thousand years ago in the timeline there."

The images changed to a monster circle stone tablet. Then, to an artist rendition of the entire planet on fire. A couple of the mares gasped at what they saw.

"Sorry about this image. Most humans didn't believe this would come true. For the next part, I must warn you, I'm about to talk about what humans are like. Please don't relate me to them as I have different beliefs than most."

The Princesses and the others nodded their heads before Blaze continued telling his tale.

"Over the many eras of the human race, one thing has been a constant, we like to fight and cause destruction. Most of these conflicts were either about land, money, or power over other humans. Most historians say we need to learn about our past so we don't repeat them in the time we live. Well, that never happened. We never learned and because of that, we paid the ultimate price."

The human showed images and short video clips of different battles that he recalled seeing as he was in school. He went over each one and explained what it was about and how the advances in science and technology had resulted in more death and destruction. He even went over the creation of some of the most destructive weapons. Things that could easily destroy towns, cities, or an entire country. Blaze said that a government of a country actually used a device like this, twice. It happened during something in humankind's history called World War II.

"That sounds horrible!" shouted Twilight. "Why would anyone use something to cause mass destruction? Let alone, twice."

"Humans have been speculating what goes on in the minds of these past leaders that drove them to make those decisions. Some say greed. Others, say fear. Finally, it might be because what they believe in," replied Blaze.

The projector screen went dark. The human saw several of the mane six had tears rolling down their face as either one or both fore hooves covered their mouths. Spike was hiding underneath his cushion. The Princesses had a sad expression while the guards were doing their best to maintain their posture and glare face. Only their tail had curled up between their legs.

Blaze walked to the front of the podium, as it shape-shifted into a chair. He sat down and said, "I'm sorry for showing you this. I never wanted to let you know what most humans are like. But, I feel you should know of what became of humans since they were last here."

Princess Celestia got up from her cushion and walked to the right side of the sitting human. Princess Luna joined her on the opposite side. They both looked at each other for a few seconds before looking down at him.

"I'm glad you showed this to us. Both, my sister and I, are also glad you say that you're not like these humans," Princess Celestia said.

"Indeed," Princess Luna added.

"The thing is, I am a human. These reactions, they are in my DNA. I could have done these things at any time. I don't because of what I believe, like the balance in the world."

"If you were like those other humans, then how did you survive the last day on your planet, sugarcube?" Applejack asked.

"Yeah, guess it is time to show you what happened. The day in question was the date the Mayans predicted was going to be the end of the world."

The screen lit up and it showed Swift Blaze's memory from his point of view. He only showed the things related to the violence that he heard on the radio and saw on the television. He skipped the parts of what he packed and anything that he didn't want them to see. There was a low rumble coming from the video before it paused and cut to black.

"What happened next?" Pinkie asked in an excited tone. She had a huge bucket of popcorn in front of her,

"Before I continue, this next part has the final moments on my world that I experienced." Blaze had placed his right hand on his left elbow while the left arm stayed by his side. "You can say that I was very afraid and in shock of what was happening. I don't think there is another moment in any creature's life of being the most scared is when they realize they are about to die."

The human looked at the others as he lowered his right arm back to is side. He continued with, "If you don't want to see it, I'm okay with it. I've created a sound proof room through the red door over there."

After a few seconds of silence, Fluttershy and Rarity got up from their cushions. Before they headed to the door, they made their way to the front. The two ponies went over and gave Blaze a hug. Spike got up and gave the human a bro claw punch.

Looking around the room, Rainbow Dash stayed put as she was proving that she wasn't afraid of anything. Applejack was next to the mare and took it as a challenge to see who will scream first. Both princesses were staying calm and focused. The Royal Guards remained at attention, but a little sight of fear could be spotted in their eyes. Twilight Sparkle had managed to create seven stacks of note cards of different heights. Pinkie Pie was still eating popcorn, except that the mare now had a tall soda next to her and wore 3-D glasses over her eyes.

Once the red door was closed, Princess Celestia said, "Bob, please continue."

With that, the human started the projector screen back up to where he left off. From the point of view, humans were carrying torches and other odd things in their other hands. The rumbling noise soon revealed an odd looking metal box thing that was going down the road. There was a quick change as the light source in the house was turned off before looking again at what was happening in the street.

The ponies saw the smaller metal part on top of this thing began to rotate to the other side, pointing a metal stick at it. There was a loud bang and the door to the other house was engulfed in a fiery explosion.

Blaze saw the young mares jump in their cushions from that. The Princesses stayed firm and focused on the scene. Both Unicorn Guards had their legs shaking a bit as they tried to stay at attention. Pinkie Pie was now wearing soundproof earmuffs as she watched.

By now in the replay, Bob had run out of the house just as another explosion just went off. The view went black, but the sound was still going. Small bangs in the distance with strange, high whistle noises was being played from the back speakers towards the front at quick intervals. These were then followed by a bigger explosion.

When the picture came back, the ponies were seeing the destruction that happened to the house somehow. Then, there was a clunking sound. Followed by the picture going black again.

Twilight was the first to speak. "Blaze, your home! What happened to it?!" she asked.

"Everything that I owned got blown up from that tank there and by those other humans," he replied. "What just happened was a piece of my house hit me on the head and knocked me out."

"And those other sounds we heard?" Rainbow Dash asked. "They sounded like something moving very fast."

"You are correct. They are the much smaller projectile from what came out of the tank. It came from what those thugs had in their other hands."

"Is there any more in this memory?" Princess Luna asked.

With a heavy sigh, the human said, "Yes."

The playback started back up. It showed debris was being removed that was blocking the view. The ponies saw the humans from before had surrounded him. They had a creepy, evil-looking smile on their faces.

Bob was pleading for his life after being told he had two choices to pick from. After choosing and the thug leader had agreed to the terms, the others started counting down. Blaze looked at how his friends were reacting.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash were holding each other. Twilight scooted closer to Princess Celestia. The Princesses themselves remained firm. The guards' legs were shaking more than ever. Pinkie Pie had emptied the popcorn bucket and placed it over her head, covering her face so she couldn't see.

Near the last ten seconds, the only thing showing on the projector screen was the sight of looking down the gun barrel. Where a bullet would soon be exiting, once the hammer drops. Right after the sound of a click, the screen went white.

Rainbow Dash released her grip on the orange Earth mare, once she realized she was doing it. Applejack too composed herself as she adjusted her hat. Below the Royal Guards, a small puddle had formed beneath each of them. Their legs were no longer shaking.

Blaze was sitting in the chair with his head low. He was looking down to his feet. His face was both showing pain and sadness. The human felt two things touch his back. When he looked up, Blaze saw that both Princesses were now next to him. They had placed one of their wings around his back. A smile started to grow on his face.

He soon noticed the other mares and small dragon have formed a half circle in front of him. Each one had a small tear rolling down their face. Blaze's tears turned into tears of joy from seeing these ponies care for him, even though he was a complete stranger to this world.

The human wiped his tears away and said, "Thank you. I'm fine now. That experience is something I wish to never feel for a very long time."

"No, thank you for sharing what happened to you," said Princess Celestia. "I could never imagine the humans I knew would fall so low."

"You still have to realize, these bad ones are the results of power, greed, and corruption. Not all of us go down that path. We choose how we want to live our lives by what we do."

"And it seems thou hath chosen wisely," said Princess Luna. "Can thou continue with the tale?"

Blaze stood up and said, "Sure, give me a sec to gather my memories."

The chair transformed back to a podium. He went behind it as the others returned to their cushions. The Royal Guards had found a mop and a bucket and were cleaning up the mess they had made.

Blaze tapped away at the tablet for the next part, but something was odd. He was getting an "Access Denied" on each segment of memory. Finding it odd, he decided to put this on the back burner to investigate further.

"Well, I first couldn't tell where I was. It was because everything was looking pure white. Out of nowhere, the mighty god that most humans believe in spoke to me. He explained why I survived what just happened. The Mayan calendar prediction was a test to see how humans would react to it. Those who stayed peaceful on that day got another chance at life in a world of their choosing. I chose for a world that is peaceful, never seen war, and not human."

"And you ended on our world. That is tragic, yet sweet of you to get a second chance, darling," Rarity said.

"Question, how come you didn't kick those other human flanks with those things you know?" Rainbow asked.

Blaze replied, "That's going to be the next thing I was going to explain. The truth is, my world does not have humans with these abilities. I was never trained in martial arts. I'm what my people called a computer geek, nerd, tech savvy, and sometimes freak for liking things they don't understand."

"Then where did you come up with chakra and ki abilities if they never existed on your world?" Twilight asked.

"One thing my kind of people, the geeks and nerds, were into something we called 'Anime'. What that is are illustration cartoons playing out scenes that we watch, read, and sometimes wrote stories off the series. Actually, I think it would be better to show you where I got the idea from."

The projector screen started to show scenes from Dragonball Z of different fights and seeing humans flying about. It then switched to clips from Naruto. They all were intrigued in the shows and recognized some of the jutsu Blaze had done.

"Wow! That was amazing!" said Spike. "How come you have not done any of those blasts from your hands?"

"Well, for starters, never had a reason to. Also, I haven't done much practice with it. Finally, as you can see, these techniques are very dangerous. I don't think I would have a need of them. I only chose them so I could gain the power of flight. I mean, besides those who have wings, have any of you dreamed what would it be like to fly?"

The Earth and Unicorn mares shook their heads. Spike nodded his head with excitement. The Unicorn Guards gave a subtle nod with a little blush showing on their faces.

Blaze continued telling his tale, "So, the reason I chose to get the abilities from these shows, besides how cool they are, I didn't know what I would be facing in the next world. I like a little mystery of the unknown and to be a little prepared. I still have to train and practice with them. That's what I've been doing in my sleep most nights."

"Thank you for telling about the events leading to you arriving here," said Princess Celestia. "I feel sorry that most of your species did not survive your God's test. I've seen for myself the good in humans turn corrupt for greed and power. That's why they were banished from this world over one thousand years ago."

"Taking a wild guess of my species timeline, that speaking was during the medieval era. Also, roughly that far back in time too. That time was another dark period in human history and where myths about Unicorns and Pegasi came from."

Princess Luna asked, "Roughly, how many dark periods were there in thy species' history?"

"There are too many to count. We have history books that go over past events that they've been able to piece together from aged documents centuries later. Most have been destroyed in fires, or have been lost."

"Again, I'm sad to hear about that," said the Princess of the Sun." Let's go over another topic I wish to know more of. Would you mind going over the new jutsu you have learned since we last met?"

"Sure thing, Your Highness. The last time I saw you, I explained about shadow transform. In the show, the main character's popular move is called shadow clone."

Blaze went on and explained how a typical clone jutsu is, from what he had seen from the show. Then onto what makes this one more unique. The human went on by doing a quick demonstration on the intelligence gathering.

He made two clones. One went with Spike, the other with Rainbow Dash. They went two opposite parts of the room and had a whisper chat. The original Blaze explained to the others what they are chatting about, but couldn't go into detail at this time. When they returned, the clones disappeared and Blaze went over the new memories.

"Alright. Rainbow Dash, you told my clone that you have a Wonderbolt's poster that has almost all the signatures from them. You are only missing Spitfire and Soarin. You said that they are very busy with the show themselves, is the reason why. You currently have it framed above your bed, on the ceiling. That way, for each morning, you can look at that when you wake up to increase your determination on joining them. Did I miss anything, Rainbow?"

"You pretty much nailed it," said the blue Pegasus mare. "The only thing you didn't mention was how awesome I am."

"That ain't a secret, sugarcube," said Applejack

"Onto Spike now. You didn't tell me anything. What you did with my clone is he showed you a quick game called, 'Rock, Paper, Scissors'. We played best out of seven. I won three and you won three. The final round became a draw as we kept on doing the same symbol."

"I love playing games!" said Spike. "Can't wait to play it again."

"Impressive, Blaze," said Princess Celestia. "I can see why this is very useful. But, I can also see how an enemy could make an army appear. We wouldn't be prepared for something like that."

"There is one downside to this," Blaze replied. "Say, one enemy makes a thousand clones of himself. Their power and strength is also divided evenly among them. So, one all powerful foe divided by a thousand, you get an army that would fall from a paper cut."

"Paper cuts are not something to joke about," said Twilight Sparkle. "They really hurt."

"Anyways, for this next part, I will need to explain the basics of it so you can understand the next jutsu. Besides the basic Ninjutsu, the show talks about the ninja being natural to a naturalistic style. Those are earth, fire, wind, water, and lightning. Typically, you are only natural to one. But, with me choosing to also have abilities from the other show, God said I have the capability to learn all of them."

Almost everyone was shocked to hear this. As Rarity did her fainting scene, Blaze had a couch show up behind her. Pinkie Pie spilled her popcorn. Twilight broke her quill.

Blaze cleared his throat before he said, "Even though I have this, it will take me some time to try and learn the different nature jutsus to a useful capacity. What I've started learning are earth and water style jutsu.

"I've gotten a good experience with that earth one," Applejack said.

Rainbow Dash asked, "How's that?"

"Blaze trapped me so I couldn't move."

The Unicorn Guard started to charge up their horns as they stared angrily at the human.

Blaze held up both hands toward them and shouted, "Hold it! That's not the full story. Please, let me explain."

Princess Celestia looked to her guards and nodded her head. Their horns stopped glowing. They returned to their at-attention pose. The human thanked the Princess. Then, he told the tale of what occurred that day.

Applejack had her head down low because she recalled how stubborn she was acting.

"Applejack, why did you not ask us to help you when your brother got injured? We would have gladly helped, " said Twilight.

Before the orange mare could reply, Blaze said, "I asked that myself when Big Mac and I went to find her. She went on saying it was Apple family tradition and that she was trying to prove herself to her brother. I realized she wasn't going to listen to reason, so I immobilized her body so I could do the next jutsu."

"What jutsu was that?" Pinkie asked while eating from a new bag of popcorn.

"The type is called a Genjutsu. Instead of some physical change to something, this one goes after the mind. I did a weak one that allowed me to implant an illusion into her of what could happen if she did not ask for help and got very exhausted."

"What was the dreadful illusion that made Applejack realize she should ask for help when something is too big for one pony, Blaze?" Rarity asked from the couch she was on.

"I think Applejack should answer this. She experienced it," the human suggested.

The Earth pony looked up and glanced at all her friends. She said, "I couldn't tell at first what I was seeing. There was some screen in front of me and I couldn't stop looking at it. I was seeing myself really exhausted, while trying to help my friends. Each thing I was involved with that I promised to help them ended disastrously. I sent Rainbow flying badly when she wanted my help for a stunt. I poisoned a bunch of ponies with bad muffins. Finally, I terrorized all the new baby bunnies to go into a stampede when I was helping Fluttershy."

"This is so bizarre. I was going to ask you for your help later this week with a stunt to increase my launch speed," Rainbow said.

"I too was going to ask you to help in making some baked goods at Sugarcube Corner," Pinkie said.

"I was going to ask, if you don't mind, to help me gather all the baby bunnies to get a count of them. The way you handle the cows was impressive," Fluttershy said.

All eyes turned and looked at Swift Blaze. While being a little nervous, he said, "What? How was I supposed to know what Applejack was going to see. I'm still figuring out how all of this works."

The mare gave the human a questioning look as they thought over what he said. He hoped that they will buy it. _Who knows what could happen if the real truth comes out,_ Blaze thought inside his head.

_And what truth could this be?_ another voice in his head said.

Blaze looked to Princess Celestia. Her eyes stared at him, like she was glaring at his soul.

_Busted,_ Blaze thought. He did a big swallow before he replied in his head. _It's true, Your Highness. I've been holding some things back from all of you. I was planning on telling you, in private. The fewer that know this would probably be safer for your kingdom. I hope you'll understand why after you hear it._

Only a few seconds went by. But the human felt it was an hour before the Princess responded. _Very well. We shall discuss it, after this meeting,_ she said with a stern voice in the human's head.

Another gulp came from his throat as he now feared what might happen later.

Applejack broke the silence in the room when she said, "That illusion made me realize that I should never have thought to try and do something that big. I have helped my friends with their problems. I should have asked them to help with mine."

"Ok, Blaze, it looks like you diverted an issue between your friends if you had not stepped in to help Applejack that friendship lesson. I'm glad you controlled yourself to make sure no harm came to your friends. Do hold yourself back in causing harm to my ponies. Unless, you are going to protect them," Princess Celestia said.

"I do wish to protect your ponies and my friends. That's why I'm continuing to learn these jutsu and ki abilities. In a world where magic exists in everything around us, a single human is at a disadvantage if they want to protect the ones they care for," the human replied.

Princess Luna said, "We're glad to hear that. Maybe thou should join the Royal Guard. It would be a good way to train in fighting in thy pony form."

Blaze replied "I'll think about it. I still need some time to figure out my place in your kingdom. There are many other considerations of things I could do here. I could maybe teach your guards some Taijutsu techniques."

"Tai what now? What the buck is that?" Rainbow asked.

"It's another style of jutsu. While the others I've talked about using chakra, Taijutsu does not require it. You can pretty much classify it as another style of martial arts. The only thing is, I will have to adjust it some for a pony body. Again, that is another possibility I could do here."

"I would like a demonstration, before I will consider you teaching my guards," said Princess Celestia.

"But of course, Princess," the human said as he bowed to her. "Now then, let's get back to the jutsu I have learned. The next style that I haven't used in the real world is Water style. Just like the name says, it uses water to make it work."

"If you have been training to use them in here, can you give us a demonstration?" Twilight asked.

"Not a problem. I'll need to change to a different area. Please, remain seated until the transition has come to a complete stop."

The surrounding wall became blurry as they moved at imaginable speeds. Once it came to a stop, the ponies saw they were now in an open field with huge boulders, spread out. Next to the human stood a basic water fountain.

"Where in Equestria are we?" asked Rainbow Dash. "I don't recognize any of this."

"That's because this isn't. I'm using an area that is seen often from the Dragonball Z series. This area is good to do some target practice." Blaze stepped to the side and gestured to several boulders that were behind him. "As you can see, I have different rocks of different sizes and properties. I will be doing three different techniques on them. Please, stand back."

The ponies watched as the human turned and faced the rocks ahead. The water from the fountain began to form a long blade. It shot across the space and did a diagonal slicing move on the first target. On the second one, the water stream transformed into a massive hammer. It slammed into a middle rock, causing it to be smashed into hundreds of pieces. Onto the final rock, and the biggest. Blaze had caused the water to change back into a collected pool of water. It launched itself at the boulder, piercing it, and continued going through it. The stream came back from behind the rock and repeated the motion of turning the rock into Swiss cheese, literally.

Once he was done, the human turned back around and faced the others. Some were stunned by the damage was done. Others were amazed of Blaze's feat.

Spike spoke first as he said, "That, was, AWESOME!"

"You definitely know how to break rocks," said Rainbow Dash. "What else can you do with water?"

"Almost anything can be used for destroying things. It's when you use it to be creative, that's the amazing part," said Blaze.

He put his hands together and did different symbol poses. The fountain water shaped shifted into several dolphins. The human hadthem fly about around the group, doing different tricks and passing through hoops that were also made of water.

Once Blaze was done, the mares and princesses clapped their fore hooves together. They all had big smiles on their muzzles. The guards remained at attention.

"You are certainly learning some useful jutsu to help protect your friends. I can't wait to see what you are going to do next," Princess Celestia said.

"Well, the next one I'm planning on learning, might cause everypony to faint from seeing what I will do with it. It will take some time before I'm ready to show it," said Blaze. He looked to the other and said, "Are there any more questions you would like to ask before Princess Luna ends this?"

Spike quickly said, "Can you show us some ki blast? I just want to see what those can do."

"I figured you wanted to see that when you saw that show. I am going to change the area again to one with things for target practice. Don't panic over where we go as it is just an illusion."

Blaze changed their location from the fields to a space environment with meteors in the distance. The guard ponies panicked, trying to hold onto their air for no reason. Everyone else laughed until they realized it was an illusion as the human had told them.

"Now that we had that laugh, I'll try to show some basic blast at the meteors over there. You'll understand why I won't use these unless there was no other option."

The ponies stood behind the human as he gathered the energy. A red aura started to appear around his body. Blaze raised his right arm as a red orb formed in front of his hands. He sent several them flying to the space rocks. Each one hit their target and blew them to pieces.

"Hold on," said Rainbow Dash. "These are red. We saw a blue one when you came here. Why is there a color difference?"

"Maybe it has to do the color of his pony form?" said Twilight Sparkle.

"But he is in this form!" the blue Pegasus shouted. "Shouldn't it be that, peach tan color then?"

"I don't know, sugarcube. Only one that would know is Blaze himself," said Applejack. The mare turned towards the human. "Well?"

Blaze rubbed the back of his head as he said, "Um, yeah. I think I know what Rainbow Dash is talking about. I didn't realize at the time that I was using THAT technique. I'm just glad it was as weak as it was. Would of hated showing up and explain why the area was destroyed."

"How much destruction is thou speaking of?" asked Princess Luna.

The human lowered his hand and replied, "Umm, in the show, the main characters could destroy planets." Blaze raised both hands to the ponies and quickly said, "But they had a lot higher energy level! Nothing that I'm no where near."

Princess Celestia raised and eyebrow then waited a few seconds, before she said, "What levels are we talking about?"

"I don't have the device to detect mine. But, I'm guessing mine is around a couple thousand. They had power levels that were several million. They got there from very intense training and being part of a special race from another planet. I will never get to their levels"

"Okay then. Proceed with the demonstration."

Blaze bowed to her, before he turned around and faced the remaining asteroid. The human brought his hands together in front of him. Then, pulled them to his side as a bright blue orb formed in them.

"Ka . . . me . . . ha . . . me . . . ha!" Blaze said as he charged up the energy and released it to the remaining target. Upon contact, it grew big enough to engulf it and the remaining chunks nearby. It dissipated and nothing was left.

All ponies were again shocked at the devastation that they can cause. "Now you see why I won't be using these unless they were the last resort. If there is nothing else, Princess Luna, can you end the dream share?"

The Princess of the night nodded her head. Her horn lit up and blanketed the area in white.

Back in the real world, everyone woke up from the slumber in the library. Blaze saw his clone was playing a card game with the other guards.

"Do you have any threes?" a guard asked.

The clone and other guard said, "Go fish."

"I'm shocked you're not playing poker and taking their money," the real Blaze said.

The guards dropped their cards and went back to salute formation, not noticing the ponies were waking up.

"Sorry about that, Your Highness, it was the clone's idea to play the game while we waited," one guard said.

"Well, I can see I'm no longer wanted," said the clone.

He got up from the table and walked to the real Blaze. The clone whispered into the other's ear as he passed a full sack and a black, rectangular thing to him. With that, he was engulfed in a puff of smoke and disappeared.

Blaze glanced through the memories to confirm what his clone has told him. He said, "Well, I can see you two were not bored while everyone was asleep."

"What do you know?" asked a guard.

Blaze replied, "That's right. You don't know the specifics of the shadow clone. Well, when the technique is done, their memories are shared with me."

Both guards that had stood watch outside the dream took a big gulp. The second one had a bead of sweat rolling down his face as he said, "We did play a few card games. There's nothing wrong about that."

"Is there anything more you would like to share?"

"What are you getting at, Blaze?" asked Princess Celestia.

"My clone knew if anything were to happen, it would be his word against two Royal Guards. He grabbed a special device from my bag, for insurance."

"What would that be?"

"A video camera."

The first guard said, "We didn't see him lug down any big camera and set it up. Just that black thing he has."

"You see, technology where I'm from doesn't need to big anymore to do the same thing." Blaze pointed to the staircase going up. "Princess Celestia, would you please grab that silver box that is sitting on the stairs over there?"

The white Alicorn lit up her horn and used her magic. Once the object was in front of her, she said, "This is a camera? How do you get the film out?"

The human replied, "The camera is called a GoPro. It doesn't use film wheels. Humans have developed the method to take that out and capture it by, what it's called, digitally. A tiny piece of tech is in there that is acting as memory and placing what it records onto it."

"Then how the hay are you going to be able to watch it?" asked Rainbow Dash.

Blaze looked over and saw Twilight was madly writing down notes on this discussion.

"We're wondering that too. Plus, how was your other self controlling it. You don't have magic," said Princess Luna.

Blaze held up the black rectangle object and said, "With this. It works like that tablet I showed earlier, just smaller. I'm able to remotely control that camera and see what it sees on this screen."

The human tapped the screen for a few seconds. When he turned it back around, the screen was displaying what was broadcasting from the mini camera. Princess Celestia turned it around to have the lens pointed at her. The screen copied the movement path.

The white Alicorn looked at the two guards that stood watch while they slept. She had a look between pissed off and disappointed. The stallions getting the glare were sweating noticeably. Before they could say or do anything, Princess Celestia said, "Don't move or say anything until I have reviewed this. Also, the anti-teleport barrier is still up."

She turned to Luna and said, "Sister, have you and the other guards watch them."

"But of course," replied the dark blue Alicorn. "We shall make sure of it."

"Blaze, show me what transpired here."

The human nodded. So, with a swipe and a tap, the video playback started.

It showed the guards standing still while the ponies went into the shared dream state. After a while, the guards were whispering among themselves about something. Blaze's clone had gone to retrieve a book from one of the shelves. He sat in a chair at the far end of the room, opposite from the camera. He placed the book where it was blocking what he could see.

The guards moved about while they looked at the human to see if he noticed. Once they were satisfied, each one used their magic and picked up Rainbow and Fluttershy. These Unicorns made the sleeping Pegasus fly around the room. After a few laps, they gently placed them back down where they were laying. The Royal Guard switched their magic grip onto the two unconscious guards. They manipulated them to dance together in the waltz. After a while, the guards placed the other ones back where they were.

The ponies approached the clone. One guard said, "Hey, human! We have a question to ask ya."

The clone replied, "Hmm? Sorry, I was reading this interesting book on other creatures of this world. Did you want to read it?"

"No. We were wondering if your species ever played poker."

"Yes, they have. I'm sorry to say though I'm not an expert on it."

"It's easy. Just need a deck of cards and some bits to wager. You do have some, correct?" the other guard said.

"Yes, I do," the human said as he lifted a medium size bit sack from his waist. "It was a gift from the Princess."

They saw how big the bag was and huge grins showed up on their faces.

"Then play a few hands. We'll go easy the first few deals, just so you can get used to it," said the first guard.

"Alright. I could use the bits to get the supplies for the house I'm planning to make."

"Don't dream too early, or you might find yourself with no bits at all," the second guard replied.

They went to a table and set up as the clone went to get the cards. A guard was dealing first and explained the rules as he shuffled the deck with his magic. After a couple hours the guards' side of the table was empty of bits and the clone had them all.

"Guess today was my lucky day," the clone said as he shoveled the bits into the bag. "Want to play a game of Go Fish?"

The guards nodded.

The video clip ended. Princess Celestia looked at Blaze and sent a telepathic message to him, _Blaze, why didn't your clone stop them from what they were doing?_

Blaze replied in the connection, _He could have. But, if he did, he thought the guards would have called ones outside and say that the human was doing that. He would have intervened if it got too far out of control. The other reason is the clone felt that you should deal with them. The camera was going to be proof of whatever actually happened._

_Very clever. Did the clone lie about playing poker?_

The human smiled as he replied, _I was the online poker state champ for two years._

The Princess let out a small chuckle. The white Alicorn regained her composure before she looked at the guilty Royal Guards

"What did these guards do, Princess?" Twilight asked.

"Blaze did capture what these two did and will be punished." She looked at them and said, "You have been found guilty of conduct unbecoming of a Royal Guard. This also includes what has been shown to me. I won't go into detail in front of these ponies. But, it will be recorded in your personal files. You will be stripped of your ranks, down to private. Finally, you will be sentence to one year in the dungeons of Canterlot, as set in the Equestrian Code of Military Conduct."

"But Your Highness, we can explain. You see . . ." a guard started to say.

"ENOUGH!" shouted Princess Celestia in the Royal Canterlot Voice.

After a few seconds, the white Alicorn, at normal voice levels, said, "I thought I could trust you to protect me and my subject. But instead you did this foolish thing. This device has seen everything you did. It's a good thing the human tricked you in getting all your money. You have shamed the Royal Guard name and what it stands for."

Both guards started to beg the Princess, "Please, Your Highness! We're sorry for what we did. We promise to never do anything like that ever again. Please don't kick us out of the Royal Guard. We'll do anything!"

Blaze stepped up next to the Princess of the Day and said, "Excuse me, Princess, I don't mean to step in, but I think I might have a better suggestion. Being kicked out and tossed into jail seems to be a little extreme. I mean, no harm came to you, Princess Luna, or anyone else. They were just acting childish. This method won't teach them to do better."

She was thinking upon what the human said. Her reply was, "You do have a point. What do you have in mind, Blaze?"

"They first must agree to this option before I say it. If they back out of it at any time, they will be still kicked out and be sentenced to five years in the dungeons of Canterlot."

"Interesting proposal. I'll consider this option."

Princess Luna looked at the guilty ponies and said, "Time to choose your verdict. Do you want our sister's decreed of punishment? Or, do you want to go with Swift Blaze's mystery option with the added condition of failing?"

They whispered between them quietly for a few minutes. Once they made their mind, the accused Unicorn guards turned toward the Princesses. "We'll choose Blaze's decision," said the first guard.

The second one said, "Yeah, anything is better than dishonorable discharge."

Everypony turned to me to hear what they will be getting.

Blaze smiled and said in a game show voice, "Congratulations! You two colts have won the following. You'll work on Applejack's farm, starting tomorrow, and do it for one year. The mare and her brother, Big Mac, will be your bosses. Your pay will be half of what you would normally get for working there. If at any point she thinks you are not going to cut it, you will go to the dungeon for five years with the discharge."

Before the guards could respond, the human also said,"But wait! There's more. During the time there, you'll wear magic inhibitors the entire time. Basically, you will be Earth ponies with horns the entire time. After completing the time on the farm, you'll go back to magic school and relearn your spells. Finally, once magic school is done, you'll go through basic training, two times. If you pass both times, then and only then, you can return back to your current positions. If at any point you fail or back out, it is straight to the dungeon."

"We would have never agreed to those terms! One year in the dungeon is better than that!" shouted one guard. The other nodded his head.

"Just remember, if you back out, it will be five years," said Blaze. "I choose this so you can actually learn from your mistakes and be better in the future. So, will you continue with my choice? Or, are you going to the dungeons?"

They whisper to each other some more with an angry tone that could be heard. They turned to the Princess of the Sun. The second guard asked, "Do you promise that we'll be allowed back into the Royal Guard if we do what Blaze said?"

Princess Celestia turned to Blaze and said in his mind, _You're right. They were acting childish. I do think this will teach them how to better behave. It's a little scary you came up with this in such a short time._

He replied in his mind, _Kicking them out and throwing them into the dungeon would cause them to hate you over time. Maybe even do evil deeds if they follow that path. This will get them back on the right path and teach them to not abuse the power they have._

_I agree._ She turned back to the guards and said, "Yes, you'll be allowed back in. Only when you meet all the points in Blaze's choice."

The guilty guards started to bow repeatedly as they said, "Thank you, Your Highness! We are truly sorry for what we did and thank you for giving us another chance."

Blaze turned to the orange mare and said, "Ok, Applejack, you have two new workers for you. You know the condition of their employment. When you get back to the farm, just tell my clones you're all set with them and can release the jutsu."

The Earth pony replied, "Why don't you tell them? Aren't ya coming back to the farm?"

"I need Swift Blaze to come with me to Canterlot. It's just to fill out some forms so he can be a true citizen of Equestria," Princess Celestia said.

All the ponies accepted that reasoning.

Blaze said, "Seeing we are done here, Shall we get going?"

"Very well. Goodbye, Twilight Sparkle and her friends. Blaze will return tomorrow morning."

All the ponies bowed to the Princesses as they started to leave. Before they exited, Princess Luna used her magic to remove the armor from the two temporally suspended guards. Then, she placed a magic inhibitor ring on their horns. Finally, a binding spell so they couldn't come off by any means, except by the Princesses.

Blaze followed them out and joined the Alicorns in the carriage. Soon, the carriage was off and flying back to the castle.


	13. Chapter 12: The Whole Truth, Oh God

Chapter 12: The Whole Truth, Oh God . . .

High up in the afternoon sky of Equestria, a carriage being pulled by four Pegasus Royal Guards was heading to Canterlot. Inside, sat a white Alicorn, Princess Celestia, a dark blue Alicorn, Princess Luna, and a human, Swift Blaze. Blaze was looking outside the window next to him. He saw the ground below passing by and other Pegasi were moving the clouds about. When he turned his head to the interior, the human noticed that something was on Princess Celestia's mind.

"Two pennies for your thoughts?" Blaze asked.

The white Alicorn replied, "What did you say?"

"It's a human metaphor. I asked what are you thinking about."

"Well, I've only told the ponies in Ponyville and our personal Royal Guard about you. The rest of Equestria still thinks humans are a myth. Do you think you can go to your pony form? I don't know how the high society ponies will react. You will only have to do it until we are inside the castle walls."

"Sure. I can see where you are coming from. You don't want them running for the hills screaming monster," Blaze said with a chuckle.

"We don't see how this is a laughing matter," said Princess Luna.

"It's another human saying."

"Hmm, thou must teach us these 'sayings'. Maybe they will allow us to get in touch with the modern times."

"I don't think human verbiage will connect with the ponies here. It will just fly over their head."

"Oh! We know that one. Our sister has said it several times when she talks about her day in court."

Princess Celestia said, "Luna, I don't think Blaze is interested in what happens during the royal court proceedings."

"We shall see," said Blaze. "Have you informed your guards about me, at least? Or, do I get to mess with them if they try to stop me from going with you?"

"I knew I was forgetting something. It's a little late now. Blaze, stay close to us for now. That should tell them that you are with us."

"But, if we do get separated, I'll try not to harm your guards if they attack first."

Princess Celestia smiled and nodded her head. Princess Luna had a tiny smirk, her smile showing. If Blaze had to guess, she wanted to see how he will deal with the Royal Guard. The human transformed into his pony form and got comfortable for the rest of the ride.

The castle in Canterlot was now close. The Pegasus Guards began their descent toward the front courtyard. Once the carriage came to a stop, Blaze stepped out and helped the Alicorns out of the vehicle, all gentlecolt-like.

The red Earth pony turned around. He shook the back legs, one at a time, and felt relief from the cramps subsiding. When he finally looked at the castle, the size and style of it was truly impressive. The human in disguise was amazed by how beautiful everything looked.

Blaze then noticed that the Princesses were at the top of the steps and entering the big front doors. He was still at the bottom of the stairs, next to the carriage. _Great, I got sidetracked from sightseeing._ he thought. The stallion moved his flank to catch up.

The Royal Guards at the front door stopped him in his path. "Halt! State your name and business here for coming to the castle,"one guard said.

"My name is Swift Blaze. I'm not from Equestria. The Princesses have invited me to come and fill out some paperwork to become a citizen here," the red stallion replied back with a friendly tone.

"Hmm, you must be an outsider. No one from Equestria would wear that odd clothing," the other guard said.

"Actually, this does have a practical purpose. Now then, if you would excuse me, I need to catch back up with them."

Blaze stepped forward, but the guards nudged him back down the steps.

"No can do, we don't let any outsiders in without orders from the Princesses," said the first guard.

"You can go back into Canterlot and fill out the citizen forms like everypony else," said the second guard.

Blaze, getting a little aggravated, replied, "Didn't you see that I came here on their carriage? I got sidetracked from looking at how big the castle is. Can't you just let me through?"

The first guard said, "No can do. I don't trust you. So, go back to where ever you came from, freak."

Blaze eye started to twitch as he thought, _Oh that's it. I am no longer responsible for my actions. Did my best, Princess._ "What did you call me? he said in an angry tone.

"You heard me. Now, leave the grounds or we'll throw you into the dungeons."

"How about I show you a magic trick instead?" The red stallion had taken a few steps back down the stairs.

"Huh? What in Equestria are you bucking about?" one guard said with a confused look on his face.

"For my first trick, I shall transform my form into a creature you have never seen."

Blaze released the shadow transform jutsu and returned to his human body.

"It's a monster! Get it!" a guard yelled. Both of them started to charge down the steps.

Blaze said, "For my next trick, I shall make you tackle your co-worker."

They continued the charge. Blaze hands shifted in different positions. This caused the area to be filled with smoke. Once it dissipated, an earth pony guard had pinned Blaze.

"Go get some guards so we can take this to the dungeon." The other earth pony nodded and headed inside. Blaze was fighting against the hold he was in.

"Get off me, you dolt! He performed some magic that caused me to look like him and him to look like me," the Blaze lookalike said.

"Prove it."

"Do you want me to go into detail about your date last week and of where I found you in the aftermath?"

He shook his head no and quickly got off his co-worker. The fake Blaze suddenly transformed back to his original body.

"Come on! We need to sound the alarm about the intruder! We need the Unicorn Guards to track him down as he has some sort of magic to make him look like a guard."

They entered the castle and made their way to the courtroom where the Princess of the Sun spends most of the time. Mostly to hear whatever it was that ponies wished to complain about. They rounded the corner and almost bumped into Princess Celestia.

"Your Highness! There is a strange creature that can change its form running around the castle. We must get you to safety," one guard said.

"That won't be necessary. Swift Blaze is my guest and will be staying in the castle for a while. I invited him here to fill the forms to give him citizenship."

"You sure you can trust that creature? It performed something causing a guard to look like the creature and traded positions," said the second guard.

"I'm sure he only did that so he would not deal damage to you directly. Did you provoke him somehow?"

The first guard replied, "I may have called him a freak. Mostly due to what he was wearing."

"Then it's your fault for what happened. We don't treat any guest that way. You both are dismissed from duty for the day, without pay. Also, you can't leave the barracks until tomorrow morning."

Both guards lowered their heads and said, "Yes, Your Highness," They turned around and left her sight. The Princess heard a whisper from one guard that said, "Thanks a lot, you dolt."

Princess Luna came around the corner and said, "Have thou found Swift Blaze? We heard that he was in the area from one of the guards."

"I believe Blaze is closer than you think." A puff a cloud formed around Princess Celestia and revealed Blaze in his human form.

"Blaze! Why was thou disguised as thy sister?" Princess Luna said with a shocked tone.

"I fell behind at the entrance and the guards wouldn't let me though. Stuff happened and caused them to chase after me. I needed something to cause them to stop."

"Well, we should have told them when we walked by. Thy sister wanted to see what trickery you could have pulled off before getting captured," said the Princess of the Moon. With a smile, she added, "Looks like I won the bet as you were not captured by them."

"All of this for a little bet. I take it she didn't like the apple I threw through the peep portal very well."

"The apple in question impaled itself on thy sister's horn."

Blaze broke into full laughter after hearing that. Princess Luna joined in with a small chuckle. After a few minutes, the human had calmed down enough and said, "I think we should go see her now, before she sends more guards."

"Very well. Let's go see thy sister."

Blaze transformed back to a pony and followed the Alicorn through the halls. They stopped when the pair reached the big doors leading to the royal throne room. The Unicorn guards standing on either side used their magic to open the doors for them. Inside, Princess Celestia was sitting on the throne. She used her magic as a quill was moving about on some scrolls.

She looked up to see who entered and said, "Ah, Blaze, glad to see you were able to get in. How much trouble did you cause?"

"Nothing big, Your Highness. If you hear about two guards being dismissed by you and told to stay in the barracks tonight, just agree that you did," said Blaze.

"Now why would they think I did that?" Princess Celestia said with a curious tone and a smirk on her face.

"Um, maybe because they were chasing me when I changed human and escaped into the castle."

"Care to elaborate on what happened?"

Blaze told them what happened from when he exited the carriage to the point Princess Luna saw him looking like her sister. "I'm sorry for impersonating you. There are just certain words I don't like being called. I can somewhat understand if they said that in my human form, as they've never see my species. But they shouldn't have called me that for how I'm dressed."

Princess Celestia was thinking about what Blaze said. Princess Luna had moved to stand beside her sister. The human remained at the bottom of the steps, waiting.

A couple minutes later, the white Alicorn said, "Thank you for being honest with me. Now then, shall we go over those things we discussed while at Twilight's?"

Swift Blaze bowed and said, "Very well, Princess Celestia." He straightened back up before he continued with, "If you could please clear the room, except for you and Princess Luna, I shall go over it."

The Princess nodded and told her guards to leave the room and that they did not wish to be disturbed. Once they left and closed the doors, she used her magic as different waves whooshed over the space. "The room is secured," she said.

"Thank you, Princess. As I said when we were at Twilight's, I gained my abilities from my God from two cartoon shows I liked to watch. There is another series I like to watch."

"So what is this third show you only want the rulers of Equestria knowing of?" Princess Luna asked.

"The only way you can truly believe me is if I show you. Luckily, you don't have to go into my mind for this one."

"How are you going to do it?" asked Princess Celestia. "You didn't bring anything to help you."

"By doing this." Blaze moved his hands together and said, " Summoning Jutsu!"

The human placed a hand on the ground. A puff of smoke appeared and revealed his backpack that he left at Twilight's. As Blaze dug into the back for the iPad, a trail of smoke came into the throne room and changed back into a scroll in front of Princess Celestia. She opened it and read it out loud.

_Dear Princess Celestia,_

_Something tragic has happened. Swift Blaze's saddle has disappeared! He is going to be so mad at me as I was the last one with it. We need to send out the Royal Guard to find the culprit and retrieve it. Please don't inform Blaze about this as I could not handle him being angry with me. I expect your swift response._

_Your faithful student,_

_Twilight Sparkle_

"I think you should write her a letter saying you used your jutsu to retrieve your bag," Princess Celestia suggested.

"Yeah, seeing I'm the culprit that took it. Can I borrow a quill, ink, and a scroll?"

Princess Celestia used her magic and brought the items to the human. Also, she materialized a desk and chair for him. Blaze sat down and started writing.

_Dear Twilight Sparkle,_

_There is no need to send out the Royal Guard. I'm the one who summoned my bag to me. I shall explain how when I'm back in Ponyville, tomorrow._

_Your friend,_

_Swift Blaze_

_P.S. I would have not been mad at you for losing my bag. I would have gone after the culprit and made them wish they never done it._

Blaze rolled up the scroll and secured the seal around it. Holding it toward the Princesses, he said, "It's done, Princess. Would you mind sending it to her?"

Princess Celestia used her magic and the scroll disappeared in a blink of an eye.

The human got up from the desk and said, "Now then, back to the third show. Please, don't do anything rash when I show you the first episodes of the series. I'll explain everything after I play them."

The Princesses glided down from the thrown and landed on the other side of the table. Blaze set up his device. A couple of quick taps, then he rotated it around so they could see the screen. The episode was the first one for My Little Pony. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were shocked and confused about how their world is a cartoon show in the human's world. After the second episode finished, Blaze stopped the player and closed up the iPad.

"Ok, let me first explain that I had no idea how the creator of this series, Lauren Faust, was able to capture events here. Plus the fact is: this was first shown just over two years ago in my time," he said with a cautious tone.

Princess Celestia looked at the human with a stern face and a raised eyebrow. After thinking about what she just saw, she said, "So, you knew about us before we even met?"

In a calm voice, Blaze replied, "Yes, Your Highness. I fell in love with this world when I watched the episodes. I started to read stories that were made by the fans. They gave a lot more detail that the show could ever dream of showing off how wonderful your kingdom is. But, nowhere, those words were never close in the beauty."

Princess Luna's face remained stern. A very small hint of a smile appeared on Princess Celestia, before it too had the same voice. The blue Alicorn said, "Please, explain why thou chose to come here."

"I picked this world as it has shown how good and peaceful a race can be without war and destruction. I got tired hearing in the news of everything bad happening. It has gotten to a point where I'm numb to it and don't care."

"When you found out about that, test, your God did, was this place your first choice?" asked Princess Celestia.

"I think the best way to answer that is explain more about the fans themselves. The males are called Bronies and the females are called Pegasisters. In the fandom, there are a bunch of us that dreamed to come to this world and leave Earth with the influence of greed and power behind. They have even gone as far as to write fanfictions about this."

"Is that what you think we are? A fantasy world you humans created?" Celestia asked with a little anger in her tone.

"In the beginning, yes, I did think that way. But now, I realize that whatever I watched or read, the life here does its own thing. This world truly exists and I'm still in love with all of its inhabitants." Blaze went down to one knee. "I will do anything to protect everypony here. You may scan my mind to prove I am telling the truth. I only wish to live here and be a loyal subject. If I'm lying, may lightning strike me."

…

Nothing happened.

After several minutes of both Alicorns looking at the human, they nodded their heads. The white mare used her wing to direct him to take a seat back behind the desk. He did so as they walked around to either side of Blaze.

"From what you said, the Summer Sun Celebration event was shown to you two years ago," said Princess Celestia. She lower her head to his height, and closer. "Then, you may have more knowledge of any future events. Am I correct?"

He looked at her and said, "That's correct, Your Highness. In the episode timeline, we were around sixty-five when I left my world."

"Will thou share them?" Princess Luna said.

"This line of questioning actually reminds me about one. I'll share this one, of what happened. Twilight was minding her own business when a flash appeared behind her. It was her future self came back in time to warn her about the future. The future one was a mess and could not deliver her message as the present Twilight was asking too many questions. Worried what might be happening soon, the entire town of Ponyville went into a frenzy of doing preventive maintenance from any disaster. Everything was made safe and nothing occurred. Twilight then stayed up several nights trying to spot the disaster that might be coming from the night sky. Nothing happens. What it turns out to be was that future Twilight was trying to warn her past self not to worry about the future. Do you still wish to know what might occur?"

"We see thy point."

"I'll help with some of the painful ones, so it will less tragic. The problem too is that I don't know when they will occur. My knowledge is only of what the episode showed. I don't even know if since I came here, will these events ever occur."

Princess Celestia raised her head back to normal height. She said, "Thank you, Bob, for sharing this with us. I know it wasn't easy as how it's knowledge of possible events in our future. Seeing you wish to be a protector, I propose you join my Royal Guard to gain authority when disaster occurs. You will still have to go though the same basic training as any other new recruit."

"Thank you, Princess. I must regret to decline the offer and allow me to explain. Your guards fight on the front lines and in the open. I feel what I've been learning won't be effective in those situations. This style is more for small, counter mission, involving stealth. I'll help when needed, but I can't do it as a soldier."

"Then allow me to propose a counter proposal. You offered to teach Taijutsu to some of my guards. But, you mentioned that you'll need time to adjust it for a pony. How about you go through basic training in your pony form to learn how a pony can fight. Once done, I'll hire you to be a drill sergeant to teach my guard in your style. Will you accept this one?"

"Let me think about it. I don't want to rush into anything."

"But of course. A lot has happened today."

"Is there anything else you wish to know before we go and take care of those forms?"

"Yes, please show us the other weapons in your pack."

"I figured you were going to ask that when I allowed you to scan my mind. May I have a couple targets and target dummies to demonstrate them?"

They obliged. Princess Luna used her magic and summoned them to one side of the room against a wall. The human went over to his pack and started to look through it.

The first thing Blaze pulled out were flat, metal objects with four sharp points on them. "Ok, these here are popular in the ninja world. They are called throwing stars. As you can see, they are small, easy to get them to spin as they fly towards your opponent, and can be deadly. Let me demonstrate on that target at medium range. Would you please get behind me?"

The Alicorns did so as Blaze moved into position and prepared himself. The human threw three of them, one at a time. The first one hit the outermost ring in the upper left corner. The second one punctured two rings from center, in the bottom right. The final one made bull's eye.

"As you can see, they are very quiet. They are designed to either incapacitate your target, or kill them."

"Interesting design," said Princess Luna. "But we take it thou has more to show?"

Blaze nodded and went back to his bag. He brought out couple different knife weapons. "These are daggers and a hunting knife, or very short swords. They are easy to conceal and can also be thrown like the previous weapon."

Princess Celestia said, "We are familiar with them. Most blades can be made by our blacksmiths."

"I think I have one they haven't seen before." The human lifted a flap and pulled a sword with its sheaf out. He held onto that part with his arm stretched out to the Alicorns. "If you would, Your Highness, please draw out this sword and take a look at it."

Princess Celestia's horn lit up with her magic as she drew the blade out. The blade twirled in the air as they looked at the design.

"This blade is defective," said Princess Luna. "The edge is on the wrong side. Why would thou have something like this?"

"The blade itself is that of a samurai style. A culture back on Earth had developed a method of folding the steel several times, sometimes up to twenty times. This allowed the metal to be stronger and hold a sharper edge."

"But why is the edge of this blade on the back side?" asked Princess Celestia.

Blaze replied, "It's because I had a company make a realistic replica from another anime. The character in that show was trained in a unique style called, 'Flying Heaven Honorable Sword'. It uses super fast movements to take down opponents. If the character used a regular blade, no one could survive from the attacks. In the show, he joined the army at a young age. Once a new ruler came into power, he left and became a wandering samurai. To make sure he didn't kill anyone in self defense, he used this Reverse Blade to mostly knock people out and break bones, if needed."

"So, this blade can be used to subdue thy enemy, without having to take their life?" asked Princess Luna. "Pray tell, how this can be done?"

"I don't have the same skill level from the show, but I do think I can demonstrate." Blaze turned to Princess Celestia and said, "Would it be alright if you summoned the ponies who insulted me? I think they deserve a chance to redeem themselves. I'll promise not to injure them to need hospital attention. I will just disarm them, maybe bruise some of them limbs."

"You sure you want to do this? The Royal Guard doesn't hold back in duels like this," said Princess Celestia in a concerned voice. "I know you have those ki and chakra to help you. I don't feel that this is necessary. Can't you do this with a clone instead?"

"I could, but that clone would know how I would fight and I would know his. That would be more of a battle of the mind to out think myself in tactics. I thought doing it against your guards would allow you get a better idea of how I stand against them. Plus, I can see how they do in a battle."

"Ok, I'll agree to this."

The white Alicorn used her magic to teleport the two guards in question. Princess Luna had cleared the area for the duel match up. The Earth guard ponies looked around as they tried to figure out what was going on. They soon saw that they were in the throne room with both Princesses and the creature from before.

"Here's what is going on, gentlecolts. I've convinced Princess Celestia to give you a chance to redeem yourselves. You are to engage, in battle, against me. The victor will be when the other side gives up. If you win, she will give you a bonus. If I win, you'll just be able to go back to work, once you are well again. Do you accept the terms?"

"It is not really fair when he can somehow do magic spells," one guard said as the other nodded.

"How about I promise not to use any chakra or ki ability to aid me in this duel, only my skills and knowledge. If I do, you may throw me into the dungeon for a week. Do you accept now, or do you want to go back to the training grounds for a week?"

The guards talked among themselves for a few minutes. Once done, the first guard said, "We'll agree to the terms. Two on one and the first side to give up loses." He turned to the human and said, "Prepare for a beating, you freak of nature."

Blaze looked at Princess Celestia and said in his mind to her, _See what I was talking about? Do you mind if I don't hold back for calling me that again?_

She replied, _I can see how someone could get frustrated with that. Can you try to not break any bones?_

A huge grin shown on the human face as he nodded to her. The guards were picking their weapons from a nearby rack. One went for a spear and had it connected to his armor. The other went to a sword and was holding it in his mouth. Blaze had secured his samurai sword to his belt.

Once both sides were ready, they entered a circle that appeared in the middle of the room. The human bowed to his opponents, without taking an eye off them. They looked confused at this gesture and just ready their weapons. Blaze pulled the sword out and held it in front of him. Celestia, with her magic, raised a gong and Luna used hers to bang the mallet into it.

The guards charged at the human as before. Blaze ran into them at a faster pace as he wasn't wearing any armor. He dodged the spear with a twist of his body as he had his sword slam down on the shaft, causing it to snap. Against the guard with the sword being held with their mouth, the human took two whacks at it. The pony sword snapped into three pieces.

"You used your abilities!" shouted the guard with the spear.

The second spat the broke sword before he said, "Yeah! That's the only way this could have happened!"

Blaze turned to the Princesses and asked, "Did you detect me using any chakra or ki?"

They both shook their heads no.

The guards were more angry at the human and charged again without their weapons. Blaze ran at them again. This time, targeting their armor. The Earth ponies tried to punch and kick him as he swung his sword. The human was hitting the armor plates, but the ponies hadn't landed a hit.

Blaze jumped from out of the middle of them and landed on the edge of the arena. The guards turned to the human and were panting heavily. Their armor suddenly came off and broke into several pieces.

"Do you ponies give up, or are you thirsty for some more?" Blaze said calmly and not out of breath.

"Never!" shouted the first guard.

The second one said, "The Royal Guard never gives up. We would rather die than to give up."

"Such courageous morals, but someone has to give up. Guess I'll have to inflict pain now."

They charged at each other one more time. The guards were going all out in trying to punch or kick the human. Some blows came close as Blaze felt his clothes get tugged here and there. He started to feel fatigue setting in. So, the human slammed his sword at different leg joints on their bodies.

The guards collapsed onto the floor in pain. They cried out in agony from it. Both were on their backs as the Earth ponies tried to cradle where the human's blade had hit them.

The first guard shouted, "WE GIVE UP! WE GIVE UP!"

"WE DO! JUST DON"T HIT US ANYMORE!" shouted the other pony."

Blaze sheathed his sword. Then he said, "Are you sorry for calling me a freak?

"WE'RE TRULY SORRY FOR CALLING YOU THAT! PLEASE MAKE THE PAIN STOP!" both said.

"I'll accept your apology. Just remember to not call a pony names for how they dress." The human turned around and said, "Princess Luna, would you mind taking them to a hospital? Tell the Doc that they should just need to pop their joints, back into place."

"We don't mind. We shall return shortly for your next demonstration," the blue Alicorn said.

Her horn lit up with magic and teleported with the injured guards in tow. Princess Celestia walked up to Blaze as he placed the sword back into the backpack in its sheath.

"That was an entertaining show. May I ask, are these sword skills from another show from your world?" the white Alicorn asked.

"They are somewhat are," said Blaze. He stood up and faced the Princess. "I trained while mimicking the samurai movements in the show back on Earth. It's not perfect, but I'm up to the point I could defend myself with it. I did most of the practicing with a bamboo stick, just to avoid injury to myself. As you can imagine, if the sword edge was on the other side, I might have caused them to bleed when I struck their armor."

"I'm pleased that you didn't. Why did you do what you did? You could have finished the match sooner if you went for the injuries first."

"Yes, I could have. I saw this as a comrade match instead of going against an enemy. Plus, like I said before, I wanted to see how a pony fights. So, I took away their weapons to force them to use their hooves. Then, their armor to see if it would work as it should, or was more for showing off. Finally, well, you know the rest."

"You humans have definitely come a long ways from your medieval times, as you said. Putting strategy before a fight instead of charging in and see what happens."

Blaze laughed a little bit after hearing that.

"What's so funny?" asked Princess Celestia.

"Oh, it's not you, Princess. The second part of what you just said reminded me something from back home, of people who did that. They shout a name every time they do it."

"And what name is this"

"LEEROY JENKINS!", said Swift Blaze in the best voice he could do.

The Princess of the Sun continued to look at the human as he laughed some more. "It's probably for the best that I don't know who this human is," she said in a low voice to herself.

Once Blaze was able to compose himself again, he said, "As I said before, I would never cause harm to any of your subjects. I give them a chance to give up. This is so they can learn from their mistakes and maybe get back on the right path. I know these things as I'm human. My world had become a dark and dangerous to live in. I don't plan to use these next weapons while here after showing them."

Princess Luna teleported back into the throne room. "Sorry for our being gone longer than we planned," she said. "The doctors and nurses had a hard time getting those guards to calm down long enough to inject something into them. So we summoned a small wooden hammer and knocked the ponies right out. We still find it odd that this method is no longer used."

Princess Celestia said, "Sister, our medicine has improved so the old ways are no longer needed. It's safer this way. You might have given them a concussion."

"We did no such thing. We didn't need to use the Royal Canterlot Voice."

Blaze laughed quietly to himself as the Princesses talked to each other. He was getting the final demonstration ready. Once everything was in place, the human cleared his throat to get the Alicorns' attention.

"Alright, these are the last weapons I have and are the most dangerous," said Blaze. He pulled out a pair of handguns. "These are designed to either inflict serious damage or kill your opponent. I won't be demonstrating this one because it's too dangerous, as you have seen from my memory. I will explain, however, how they work."

The human released the magazine from one and ejected the bullet that was in the gun. He explained how the blasting cap in the back ignites the powder inside to launch the projectile at super speeds. Then, he discussed how the guns worked, the purpose of the design and how it has been improved over the centuries.

"As you can see, these are too dangerous for this world. If I knew I was going to come here, I would have never brought them."

"We agree the last ones are very dangerous for pony kind to know about at this time," said Princess Celestia. "We would like to thank you again for showing them to us and being honest about what they can do. Seeing that it's dinner time, we would like to invite you to dinner with us. Our chef can make anything you desire."

"Thank you, Your Highness, it would be an honor to eat with you. Let me just back these back up in their hidden locations and we can head to the dining room."

"Very well, Blaze. If you please excuse us, we need to lower the sun and raise the moon."

"Even knowing about this world, I am still amazed at that ability to do that."

"Why is that?" Princess Luna asked.

"I can explain during dinner. I'm starving from talking all day."

The Princesses, both nodded. They walked to a side door that led to a balcony. Once in place, the Alicorns channeled their magic into their horns. Blaze looked out a nearby window and saw the sun was setting. On the opposite side, the moon was rising. Once they were done, the group made their way to the dining room.

Inside the new space, Blaze saw the longest table he had ever seen. Over fifty feet long with fancy decorations properly places. The Alicorns and human sat down at the opposite end of the table from where they entered. A waiter came out caring some menus. He handed two green ones to Princess Luna and Princess Celestia. Blaze, for some reason, was given a red one.

"Um, Princess, can you explain why my menu is a different color?" he asked.

Princess Celestia replied, "Oh, when we first met, you said you were an omnivore. Here at the castle, we get special guests from other nations that also eat meat. We keep them happy by supplying some of their favorite dishes from their lands."

Blaze blinked his eyes that were wide open as his brain processed what he just heard. _I can eat MEAT here? OH GOD! SWEET MEAT!_ A very big grin had appeared on his face. He looked at all the choices, trying not to drool. So many choices, he didn't know what to try first.

As he looked, the human noticed the muscles in his legs felt sore before the memories from the clones arrived. _Wow. Those clones sure did a number on them apple trees. Glad Applejack is happy with the work. Man, I wish I could stretch my legs to get rid of this cramp that's forming. I must look weird sitting and fidgeting in this seat across from the Princesses._ With his breathing a little harder, due to the new level of fatigue, Blaze wanted to satisfy it with more meat.

The waiter came back to get our orders. He started with the Princesses' choices. Then, the pony came to the human.

Blaze said, "Let's see, I will first have some Manticore Meatballs. Then, let's go with some Bourbon Hydra. Finally, I'll finish with the Spaghetti with chunks of Quarry Eel."

All the ponies looked at him with strange looks. The waiter then just shuffled back to the kitchen to get the orders going.

Princess Luna then asked me, "Swift Blaze, why did thou order that much?"

"Well, I was just going to get one dish. While picking it out, if you hadn't noticed, I was fidgeting in my chair and breathing a little harder. The clones I created to work on Sweet Apple Acres just finished for the day They released the jutsu, which in turn, I received all their memories and their body condition. The other reason is that all these dishes sound like they are very good."

The head waiter and a few other Unicorn ponies came from the kitchen with the first course of the meal. Blaze looked at what the Princesses ordered, some sort of cream-like soup. He looked at his dish of three juicy meatballs. Using the silverware, the human cut a piece out of one and ate it.

His mouth exploded with flavor as his mind processed it. _OH MY! MEAT SO JUICY AND IT JUST MELTS DOWN YOUR THROAT!_ Blaze dug into the rest of the dish, while doing his best to have some table manners. Once done, the staff came and collected the dirty dishes.

Princess Celestia said, "So, Blaze, you said earlier that you still couldn't believe how my sister and I could raise and lower the sun and moon. What do you mean by that?"

Blaze wiped his mouth with a napkin to get rid of the sauce from the dish. He replied, "Well, back on Earth, it was founded centuries ago about the properties of gravity on massive objects."

The human continued to talk about the solar system and the different planets that encircle the sun and how the moon encircles the planet Earth.

"What about the weather?" asked Princess Luna. "Did thy humans have a way to control it?"

He said no and explained the weather was like what is over the Everfree Forest. Blaze then added that scientists have developed methods to predict weather patterns to warn the humans when dangerous weather approaches.

"It is amazing how your species were able to last without any magic," said the white Alicorn.

"We adapt to whatever condition, we are thrown at."

Shortly after some silence, the head waiter came from the kitchen again with the next course. Salads were given to the Princesses and the human got his steak bits of Bourbon Hydra. They ate in silence. As before, the flavors from the dish brought a smile to Blaze's face as he enjoyed it.

Once they finished, the staff collected the dish again. The human's smile started to go away as he thought back to his home planet. He thought about all of his friends and family that he left behind. He had no picture, no voice, nor any video recording. The only thing he had were his memories that he could recall.

The Princesses looked at Blaze and saw the troublesome face he expressed. They guessed that talking about his world might have rekindled some memories. Even with all their power, only time can heal someone who lost so much.

Princess Celestia broke the silence when she said, "So, Blaze, is there anything you wish to know about us?"

The human looked up to her and replied, "Hmm, well, I know quite a bit from the show. How about you tell me what your earliest memory you have is."

"Ok then. Let's see," she said as she rubbed her chin with a hoof. "Well, my earliest memory is of our parents, Father Time and Mother Nature. They told us how they created all you see of the world and the creatures. As they created everything, it did not feel like a family. After discussing between each other, our parents decided to create one they could love. They wanted the child to be a female. That way they can share the love of the world. Father Time wanted their child to be immortal as they were. That way they can love her for a very long time and not have the burden of losing her to age or to illness."

"When they tried to decide on the form, Mother Nature looked at all the ones they created. Out of all them, three were the most beautiful. They were the Earth pony, Unicorn pony, and Pegasus pony. Neither of them could decide which form to go with, so they combined the three. Mother Nature was the one that came up with the name to call the creature, an Alicorn. It was more towards how unique and beautiful the child would be."

"They loved her every day and cared for her. After a few years, they decided to make another one so they can play together. Years past and the sisters were growing up. They had fun playing with the other creatures of the world and those that adored them. The time came for Father Time and Mother Nature to move on. Not to die, but they felt it was time for their daughters to rule the land. It was a big ceremony as me and my sister were crowned as Princesses and co-rulers of Equestria. All the subjects bowed to us. That was over two thousand years ago."

"That was beautiful. Let me just say that you both don't look older than thirty." Blaze said with a new smile showing.

"Thank you, Blaze. Glad to see thou is smiling again," said Princess Luna.

"Umm, if you don't want to answer this next question, I understand. Being an immortal, you realize that you'll lose your friends when they die. How are you able to handle it?"

Princess Celestia thought about it before she replied with, "That is a difficult question to answer. But, I think you should know, seeing you're going through something similar. It's true that we've lost many friends over the centuries. At first, we sulked, wanting them back. Our younger friends did their best to cheer us back up. They said our subjects were worried about how sad we were. We soon realized how we were making our friends feel. We also remembered that those that died are not really gone. They're in our memories. We cherish them of the happy times that we shared. Once a year, we take a leave of absence for a day to honor our friends that died and to recall the memories."

"Thank you for sharing this with me. I realize now how I was acting around my new friends and making them feel. Would you mind if I join you on that day you honor your past friends?"

Princess Luna replied, "It would be our pleasure."

The waiter staff came in with the last course for dinner. The Princesses received a vegetable stir fry and Blaze got his spaghetti. They again ate in silence. The human was enjoying another delicious meat they had cooked amazingly well.

Once the last course was done, the Alicorns and human left the dining room. The staff came out and began cleaning the room and dishes. Blaze was feeling better now that he told the Princesses everything.

Out in the main hall, Princess Celestia turned toward the human and said, "If you would excuse me, Blaze, I must retire to my room. As you know, it's been a long day of learning and I'll be needed to get up early to raise the sun."

"But of course, Your Highness. Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite," Blaze said with a chuckle.

"Bed Bugs! How in Equestria did they get into my bed!?" she screamed.

The human laughed at this and replied, "Sorry, Princess. It is a saying from my world we say to children when they are put to bed. What I was meaning was having sweet dreams and no nightmares."

Princess Celestia blushed a little for the way she reacted. Princess Luna had a big smile on her face as she was laughing on the inside.

As the white Alicorn headed to her room, the dark blue Alicorn turned to the human and said, "Would thou like to see thy room"

"Lead the way, Princess of the Night."


	14. Chapter 13: 'Twas a Beautiful Night

Princess Luna and Swift Blaze walked down the hallway to the guest wing. She walked to a door and led the human into the room. "This is thy room for the night. Hope it is to your liking," said the Princess.

Blaze replied, "Wow, I've never had this level of luxury in my life. Thank you for the hospitality."

"You're welcome. We shall take our leave." The Alicorn turned around and headed for the door.

The human raised his hand and said, "Wait, where are you going?"

She turned her head to him and said, "We must get ready for Night Court."

"Do ponies come and discuss their problems with you?"

"Sadly, none have come since we've returned. We think they are still afraid of us because we were Nightmare Moon." Her head hung low after saying that.

"I don't know what you did, but that was over a thousand years ago. When you came back, Twilight and her new friends were able to save you before it got worse." Blaze walked up to the Princess and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Give the ponies some time to get to know the real you. How about tonight, during night court, I'll help you with bringing your speaking up to the current times. Would you like that?"

The blue Alicorn looked at the human's face and said, "But doesn't thou need thy sleep for tomorrow?"

"Oh, I'll get my sleep too, just it will be done by a shadow clone."

He place his hands together for the jutsu. A puff of smoke appeared next to him, revealing the copy.

Princess Luna walked around the pair as she looked at them carefully. "Thy duplication is very impressive. We don't see any flaws," she said.

"I didn't expect there to be any," said the Blaze on the left.

The other Blaze then said, "Typically, from what we know from watching the show, a clone jutsu is an illusion that can move."

"They can't do much but distract your opponent," said the first human.

"These shadow clones are a higher level as they get physical bodies," the other one said.

"We believe it doesn't matter who the original is."

"If anyone of us either releases the jutsu on their own or gets too damaged by the opponent, the other will get the knowledge."

Princess Luna shook her head a bit after getting a dose of twin talking syndrome. "We take it that thou likes to do this speaking to cause confusion."

"Sometimes," said the first Blaze. "More to demonstrate how our minds are the same at the time of the jutsu. We do have to plan ahead before we do this."

The other Blaze nodded his head.

"So, which of thou will come with us to the throne room?"

"I will!" both humans said. One was slightly faster than the other.

"Damn, looks like I'm stuck getting the sleeping for the both of us," the second Blaze said.

"Remember, no dream training tonight. Had enough in that space today already."

The other human saluted the first. Then, he hopped into the bed. The other followed out of the room with Princess Luna. They made their way back to the main hall that lead to the throne room.

Standing outside, the likes of the Unicorn Royal guards were now replaced by that of the Lunar Guards. As the Princess and human approached, their horns lit up and opened the door. Inside, the Alicorn made her way to the throne and sat on it.

Blaze stepped in afterwards and walked to the bottom of the steps. He kneeled and said, "Good evening, Princess Luna. Would it please the court if you allow me the honor of teaching you the modern ways of speaking?"

Princess Luna let out a slight chuckle, but quickly regained her composer. "Thou may, Swift Blaze. On two conditions," she said.

"Name them, Your Highness."

"First, thou shall do so in thy pony form. This is to not scare any of our subjects."

"But of course, Princess Luna."

"Second, thou shall call us, Luna," she said with a smile on her face.

"As you wish, Luna," Blaze said.

He stood up and transformed to his pony form. They spent the first part of the night on volume control. The human went over of when to use the booming, Canterlot Voice, how to talk in royal events, and how she can talk when with her friends. After an hour on that, they move to the next subject, to stop referring to herself as 'we' instead of 'I'. Blaze believed this topic was going to take a couple sessions to break the habit. After an hour on that, the pair moved onto the final topic. Well, more of an overview of some new ways of saying things to allow her to understand modern speaking.

"I think that will do tonight, Luna. We've made some good progress," said Blaze.

"We, I mean I, wish to thank you in helping me," Princess Luna said.

"You're welcome."

"Tell me, Blaze, why are you helping me? Everypony else fears me for what I did as Nightmare Moon."

"It's true, I know what happened. But only based upon the first episodes of the show. I can somewhat relate."

"How's that?" Princess Luna asked with a questioning look.

"You see, you felt lonely because no pony did anything during the night. They worked and played in the daylight and slept under the moon. You did not get any recognition for the nights you brought. Honestly, you had a tantrum that made you change into Nightmare Moon. It's sad you were punished by being sent to the moon for a thousand years. But, I'm happy the Elements of Harmony brought you back to yourself."

Princess Luna started to shed a tear from recalling those events.

"For me, I was lonely for a while. It's because no one wanted to be my friend when I was younger. During school time, I was picked last at games and told to sit on the sidelines. I ate by myself during lunches, did projects by myself, and came to and from school by myself. I was in a very sad state. Then one day, I was on my computer play games online when one of the people I played found out we went to the same school. We scheduled to meet the next day. Turns out, he was the classmate I sat next to. We talked for a while and found out we had several things in common. Soon, I made more friends and started to smile again. I realized you can make friends in the unlikeliest of places and always talk to your friends when you are sad about something."

She shed another tear for hearing his story.

"So, Luna, I would like to offer my friendship to you. That way, you are never alone. If you need somepony to talk to, I will be available. I'm up late most nights before I do that sleep training. These calm nights help me with it."

"You (sniff) want me to be (sniff) your friend? We, I, don't know what to say but, yes. I would love to accept your friendship. Now, you said you like my nights because they help you sleep?" she said with a smile and happy tears forming on her face.

"I don't like them, I love them. Back on Earth, I stare into the night sky and watch with wonder at what's out there. But here, the nights are far more beautiful. With all the advances in technology, the city lights blocked out from seeing the stars at night. Even in the countryside, they still affect the view. Here, I see so many beautiful stars and constellations that I just want to spend each night staring at them. I can see that they get their beauty from you."

All of a sudden, Luna dived from the throne and flew into the human. She gave him a big hug and several kisses. "OH, THANK YOU BLAZE! YOU ARE THE FIRST TO LIKE MY NIGHTS!" Luna said in the Royal Canterlot Voice next to my head.

_OWW MY EARS!_ My ears started to ring from being too close. "Princess Luna," Blaze said painfully. She looked at me with wonder in her eyes. "Please lower the volume. I think you might have popped my ear drums."

"Oh! I'm so sorry, Blaze!" Princess Luna said in a whispering volume. "Do you want me to use my magic to heal them?"

"I think it would help."

Princess Luna's horn lit up and Blaze felt the ringing was going away. He felt warmth being flown into his ears. Once done, she said, "That should do it. Is there anything I could do to make it up?"

The human said, "How about you invite me to the garden and show me the beautiful night sky."

"Blaze, would you honor me in taking you to the garden to stare at the stars and the moon?" Princess Luna asked in a joyful tone.

The human bowed and replied, "The honor is all mine."

They left the throne room and made their way to the garden. The guards that were posted outside the room put on a confused look on their faces. Blaze imagined they were thinking where did that pony come from and where did the other creature go. Halfway though the hallway, he looked behind and saw the guards were following them.

Once at the entrance to the garden, the pair walked slowly through it. Everything was so quiet and peaceful. The guards stayed at the entrance, but were still keeping an eye on them.

Luna started to tell Blaze about each constellation that could be seen and what it stood for. Each one was more impressive than the last one she talked about. The Alicorn and human soon returned to where they started and made their way back to the throne room.

"Thank you, Luna, for showing and explaining the constellations that are in your sky," said Blaze.

Princess Luna replied, "No, no, thank you, Swift Blaze, for telling me how much you appreciate my nights."

"If you would excuse me, I think I shall return to my room and join the other me. Need to get ready to start the training exercise I do before dawn."

"You exercise before dawn? What for?"

"I do it to keep my body in shape and get ready for the day."

"Very well. You have my permission to use the training grounds to do your morning exercise in. If you can, please don't get into any fights with the Royal Guards."

"As you wish, Luna," said Blaze as he bowed to her again.

He rose back up and released the clone jutsu. A puff of smoke around him and he disappeared from Luna's presence.


	15. Chapter 14: Ready, Fight!

After releasing the clone jutsu in front of Princess Luna, Blaze returned to his sleeping body in the guest room. The merger didn't disturb his sleep, but he did wake up in the pre-dawn hours. As he stretched in bed, he thought, I could get used to this if I wanted to. Have one of me sleep while the other stays up. Twilight would love to do this. I can see it now: she reads a lot more books and doesn't get fatigued from staying up late. Blaze laughed at the idea.

The human got out of bed and made his way to the attached bathroom. He was amazed again by the size of it. The living room at his place on Earth was not as big as this. There were a few different toilet designs and sizes. Must be for the different species that come, he guessed. There was a huge tub with jet nozzles and a big separate shower stall on the opposite side from where he was. Blaze undressed and got into the shower to clean up.

After drying off and taking care of other bathroom tasks, he walked back into the bedroom with a towel wrapped around his waist. He summoned his backpack he left in a corner of the throne room. He then used the jutsu to get a fresh gi, blue with black trim, and some undergarments. Blaze put them on and packed the used ones in the backpack. When he opened the door to head out, there were two Unicorn guards standing on either side.

The human said, "Good morning, gentlecolts. Would you mind directing me to the Royal Guard training grounds?"

"No can do, sir. Those are for the Royal Guard use only," the guard on the left side of the door responded.

"Princess Luna gave me permission not too long ago."

"She gave permission to a red Earth pony in a black outfit, named Swift Blaze," the guard on the right said.

"But, that's me."

"You're clearly not a pony," the left one said and the right one nodded to agree.

"Let me prove it then."

Blaze walked to the other side of the hallway. He turned around, placed his hands together, and said, "Shadow Transform Jutsu!" A puff of smoke engulfed his body. Once it dissipated, his pony form was standing there with a smirk on his face.

Both guards, like everypony else, dropped their mouths wide open with a shocked look on their faces, but they quickly regained their guard to Blaze's left said, "Sorry about that, sir. Didn't know your species could change into other forms."

The right guard said, "We'll escort you to the grounds."

They turned and started to walk down the hallway. Blaze changed back and followed them.

As they walked down the hallways, the human was between the two Unicorn guards. He broke the silence when he said, "About before, it's alright. You couldn't have known that I can do that. Also, enough with the sirs. You can call me Blaze."

"Ok, Blaze. Could you tell us how you're able to do that transforming thing you did? We didn't detect any magic coming from you. Also, is it something that can be taught to a pony?" the one on the right asked.

Blaze replied, "I'm sorry, but ponies won't be able to learn these. As to how I can do it, that is classified. Both Princesses know how I can though. That is why I can walk freely instead of being in the dungeon."

"Can the others of your species do what you can do?" the other one asked.

"My species is called human and no, they cannot do what I do. Before you ask, I'm the only one on your world."

The guard on the right asked, "Then how did you get here?"

"That's classified."

"Are you ever going to answer our questions without saying 'classified'?" the left guard said in an annoyed tone.

"That will all depend on the question you ask," Blaze said with a smile.

They both snorted their noses as they did not like the smart-ass response. The group soon exited the main castle as the sun was starting to rise. They stood there for a bit as they watched the process.

When they moved again, the human asked, "Mind if I ask what your names are? I don't want to be a jerk and keep calling you 'guard'."

The left guard said, "My name is Iron Shield, but you may call me Iron." He had a light gray coat with a dark gray mane. His cutie mark was covered up by the armor he wore.

The right guard said, "You may call me Dead Eye." He had a white coat with red mane. His cutie mark was also covered up by the armor.

"Nice to meet you Iron and Dead Eye," said Blaze. "You're actually the first guards that have not tried to attack me."

"We heard a rumor of a strange creature showing off some skills for the Princesses and had badly beat up some guard ponies in the process," said Iron.

"I wouldn't say beat up. Just some joints got dislocated, but no broken bones," the human replied, sheepishly.

"That was you?" Dead Eye asked with a surprised look on his face again.

"I gave them three chances to give up. Plus, they had it somewhat coming to them."

Iron asked, "How in Equestria did you beat two guards at the same time?

Blaze retold the event from yesterday of how he disarmed, removed the armor, and finally disabled the guards. He didn't go over the exact techniques he used, just how he read their movements to see the openings.

Iron asked, "You managed to do that with your bare hooves? You must have gone through some intense training where ever you come from."

"One, these are not hooves. These are hands," the human said as he moved them about. "Two, no I didn't. I used a non-lethal sword I brought with me from my world. And three, that part is classified."

Iron Shield facehoofed himself after getting another classified block.

"How can a non-lethal sword be able to destroy armor and weapons?" Dead Eye asked.

"It's the technique in combo with the material properties of the sword. The outcome would have been different if I used a standard edged weapon."

"Let me guess before asking the question, you can't teach these techniques as they are classified." Iron said.

"Now you're catching on."

They finally reached the Royal Guard training grounds. Blaze could see a track, an obstacle course, a target range, and some practice dummies. "You guards have a nice setup to practice and train. I might be coming here more often for my morning exercises," he said.

"What are your exercise routines that you do?" Dead Eye asked.

"Instead of me explaining it all, how about you two join me in them? You might actually enjoy it."

"We have been ordered to keep an eye on you, so we might as well. Plus standing around all shift really stiffens up the muscles," Iron said.

"Wonderful. To begin, we shall do some stretches. I'll make it easier for you to follow by copying my pony form while my human form takes a jog around the track."

"How in . . . wait. This is another one of your abilities you can do, correct?" Dead Eye asked.

"They are called jutsu, and you are right on target."

The human stepped forward a bit and turned around. After a couple hand signs, he said, "Shadow Clone Transform Combo!" A puff of smoke appeared to his right. His pony form was now standing next to the human Blaze.

Iron and Dead Eye did not go all shocked face this time.

"Bye human me. I'll teach them some good stretches before we go to the next part," said the pony Blaze.

"Be mindful to not push it. They haven't done the training we did. Go easy on them," the human Blaze replied before he started to jog to the track.

Pony Blaze looked to Iron and Dead Eye and said."Ok then, the first stretch we are going to do is the rear hooves."

The red Earth pony demonstrated with his body. The Unicorns followed slowly as they eased into it. Blaze heard a couple pops from Iron.

"You weren't kidding when you said you were stiff," said Blaze. After a minute, he then said, "Time to switch to the front ones."

The guards repeated the actions each time as the Earth pony did them. Both of them had fallen at one point or another. After 15 minutes, the three ponies had stretched all the important parts.

Dead Eye to a moment from doing those poses. He then said, "So, if these are basic, what are the ones you've been doing?"

Blaze replied, "Ok, I'll show you and you can try to copy me. Just don't blame me if you get injured. The next level is balance control stretches. It helps increase tone on your muscles as you balance yourself on one hoof at a time."

The Earth pony stood on his back hooves. He then made the bottom of his fore hooves touch each other at chest level. For the next step, Blaze extended one leg to his front while maintaining a balanced posture, and did thirty squats. He repeated the process for the other leg. The Earth pony did a similar stance with his fore hooves, but only for a ten count.

Once done with that, he went back on all hooves and said, "Does anypony care to try?"

"Yeah," - Iron said as he rubbed the back of his head - "thanks, but no thanks. We don't have that level of balance you demonstrated."

"I agree. How in Equestria were you able to get your pony body to that?" asked Dead Eye.

Blaze replied, "I've been working to that count since I got my pony form. When I first started, I could only do five on the back and one on the front before I fell on my face."

"So what's next in your regimen?" Iron asked.

"The next thing is sparring with myself. I don't have a dummy stand like you have, nor another pony to spar against. Let me get the human Blaze over here."

The Earth Pony went over to the human and chatted with him. The guards saw the creature put his hands together as before. Seconds later, two puff clouds appeared, revealing another human and pony. Everyone moved to an area where there was a half dozen circles painted on the ground. Blaze's humans paired up with their pony clones in two of these areas.

"Before you start, mind sharing with us as to why you're paired up like that?" Dead Eye asked.

A human Blaze replied, "Of course. I'm training both forms of different scenarios. One pony is going to be on the offensive while the other is going to be on the defensive."

"Would it make better sense to do a pony vs. pony?"

"Good idea, thanks for the suggestion."

Blaze performed the jutsu and made four more ponies of himself. They paired up and went to two other sparring rings.

A pony Blaze turned to the guards and said, "Would one of you mind starting the matches? The rules are no ki or chakra. First to submit or blackout loses."

Iron Shield walked into the middle where the matches were, and looked at each pair to see if they were ready. "Ready . . . FIGHT!" he shouted and the matches began.

All of Blaze's clones went at each other, almost like the other was the enemy. After fifteen minutes, a pony in a pony vs. pony match got bucked right in the head and flew across the grounds, then burst into a puff of smoke as he landed.

"That was some hit," Dead Eye said to the victor.

"He put up a great fight," - Blaze breathed heavily - "The other just made a slight mistake, which gave me that opening."

"How can you fight yourself when you know how the other you will fight?" Iron asked.

"It's true we all have the same knowledge and style, we are just choosing different scenarios to fight and that is the unknown in these fights." Suddenly a human got a pony into a submission hold. The pony tapped out and disappeared into a puff of smoke, the human dragged his feet as he came over and let gravity help him sit down.

The clone wiped the sweat from his brow as he panted, "Man! That defensive scenario the other chose is very effective. I had to go through several to find out how to beat it. I think I shall release myself so you can review the battle."

Dead Eye watched the clone as it disappeared, then turned to Blaze, "So, you're able to learn from all of these matches from both sides?"

The pony Blaze nodded.

"This method is really impressive. You are pretty much getting a week's worth in one session."

"While the knowledge is a plus, it comes with a catch. I also get the painful memories they received. I'm grateful it's only that. If the minus of this jutsu was you get the actual injuries, I would have never learned it."

Iron asked, "So, if you made an army of you, what would more than likely happen?

Blaze replied, "Let me put it this way. Say I make a thousand of me, my strength and energy will get divided among them. I would be as strong as a kitten as it were. This jutsu was never designed to create an entire army, more for intelligence gathering and secret missions."

Both nodded at his explanation, then resumed watching the other two fights. Both sides had picked up speed in throwing their fist and hooves, but it was unclear who had the advantage. Suddenly, a cloud of smoke surrounded all the remaining fighters as they all disappeared.

"Blaze, what happen? I lost track of what was going on," Iron said.

When the Unicorn guards looked at the pony version of Blaze, they saw he had changed back into a human. He said, "It was a draw. Neither side was making headway, so I ended the jutsu. Let's head back to the castle. All that fighting has given a big appetite."

"You go ahead. Our shift has ended so we are going to return the barracks. I'm sure you know the way," Dead Eye said.

"Alright, I shall see you two some other time. If you get some leave coming up, come to Ponyville so we can hang out. I should have my place ready by then."

As the guards headed to the barracks, Blaze thought about trying the Teleportation Jutsu. It was more about moving at fast speed to one's destination instead ofwhatever they used in Star Trek. From what he read, the caster needed to visualize the path to the destination instead of the end point itself.

The human performed the hand signs and recalled the path to end up right outside the dining room. Once the jutsu activated, his vision changed from seeing the grounds to the dining room's big doors. Blaze check himself over to see if he lost anything, and was happy with how it performed. Definitely better than a Unicorn's method, if one wanted to be stealthy.

Blaze then noticed the Unicorn guards on either side of the door. They looked angry as they charged up their horns. He started to run and dodge the beams as the guards gave chase. The human didn't know what spell they are trying to hit him with, but he knew he wasn't going to wait and find out. He picked his speed up by channeling chakra to his feet.

As he opened the gap from the two chasing him, Blaze turned the corner and saw that six more Unicorn guards were headed towards him. OH YOU GOT TO BE KIDDING! he shouted in his head. Getting tired of this, the human swapped to ki energy and flew over the inbound squad. He continued to dodge all the beams, with the total now to eight.

As the human flew through the halls, he spotted an open window that led to the outside. He turned and shouted, "See ya suckers!"

Blaze saw the Unicorn guards at the window, still shooting beams at him. As he turned his head forward to fly away, the human saw a dozen Pegasus guards were headed his way from the castle wall.

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU PONIES!" he yelled at the top of his lungs.

They were still flying at him, without stopping. Blaze decided this had gone on long enough, and he needed to escape. He flew higher into the sky so everypony could see him, then turned around and channeled ki into his hands. He position them on either side of his head with his fingers flared out as he shouted, "SOLAR FLARE!"

A pure white light shone down on everything and everypony, blinding them. Blaze quickly performed the Teleportation Jutsu to appear inside the dining room, this time.

Both Princesses were seated at the table when the human appeared across from them. They were surprised to see him appear like that. As were the staff, as they ran out of the room into the kitchen.

Blaze breathed heavily as he spoke, "Excuse me, Princess Celestia, did you forget to inform your Royal Guards about me ... again?"

"I was going to do that this morning after breakfast. Princess Luna did inform some of the guards when she offered you access to the training grounds. Did something happen?" Princess Celestia asked.

"Oh, nothing happened with Iron Shield and Dead Eye. There was a slight miscommunication as she only told them about my pony form, not the human form. I quickly resolved that by showing I can change into that form. At the training grounds themselves, nothing happened as I was able to get my morning exercise in. It was when I came back, via teleport jutsu. I appeared just outside the doors down there like how I have done now. The Unicorns just started to fire their magic beams at me, so I ran instead of fighting back. Six more came around the corner as I thought I was getting away. I started to fly at this point and flew straight out a window. The eight unicorn guards were still firing at me, but then I saw a dozen Pegasus guards flying towards me."

"Care to tell us how you escaped capture?" Princess Luna asked.

"Do you recall a bright flash of light that came through those windows?"

They both nodded.

"I performed a ki-based attack called 'solar flare' and temporally blinded everypony that was looking at me. I then performed the teleport jutsu to get here."

The dining room doors burst open and a battalion of both Unicorn and Pegasus guards were flowing in. Blaze started to channel his chakra to defend himself.

"HALT!" said Princess Celestia who used her Canterlot Voice.

All the guards and the human stopped in their tracks.

A Unicorn guard wearing a different colored armor walked in front of the others. He said, "Your Highnesses, pardon us for our intrusion, but we're here to stop that creature from trying to assassinate you. Please step away from it so we may capture it."

The white Alicorn replied in her normal voice, "You may stand down. He is our guest."

"But, Princess Celestia, if that is so, then why did it run away from the guards and why was I not informed yesterday?"

Blaze interrupted the chat and said, "Excuse me, I'm not an 'it'. My name is Swift Blaze and I'm human." His tone switched to an angrier one. "The reason why I ran is your guards just started to fire their magic at me without letting me explain. As to why Princess Celestia did not inform you, she was in a private court session till sunset discussing certain things with me."

"That's correct, Captain Armor," said Princess Celestia. She looked at the human with an annoyed look, then looked back at the captain, "I was going to inform you this morning after breakfast. Looks I should have done that before the commotion."

The captain replied, "But Princess, how can you trust him with the havoc he caused in your castle?"

Blaze interrupted again as he moved over to a chair at the table to sit down, "I didn't cause havoc. Your guards were shooting beams at me without allowing me to explain why I was there."

"ENOUGH!" Celestia shouted again. "He's a guest here and has been staying in Ponyville for the past week. I shall explain more to you later."

"As you wish, Princess Celestia." The captain ordered the others back to their posts, and they closed the doors as they left.

Blaze turned his head to the Princesses Celestia. She was giving him a stern look.

"What?" he asked.

"I didn't appreciate how you talked to Captain Shining Armor. He was only doing his duty, as well as his guards. I realize it's somewhat my fault for not informing him, but you can't go running around without a guard escort. You are considered a guest from an outside nation. So, you need an escort everywhere you go."

Blaze felt sorry for blowing up at the captain, "I am sorry Princess for causing the commotion. Please don't blame Iron or Dead Eye for leaving me after their shift. I had no idea I was to have an escort. It won't happen again." He bowed to her after he spoke.

"Then, after breakfast, let's fill out those forms so you can be a citizen. We will also schedule you to go through the Royal Guard's basic training next month. Once you complete the training, you won't need an escort while inside the castle grounds."

"Sounds like a plan your Highness. If you can summon a waiter, I already know what I would like to have. This morning's exercise and events gave me a big appetite."

Celestia rang a bell and a waiter came out of the kitchen. She directed him to the human to get his order, which was a twelve-egg omelet with cheese, onion, and bell pepper; a side of roasted potato chunks; and two tall glasses of orange juice. The waiter headed back to the kitchen, and soon came back with the glasses of OJ. Blaze downed the first drink without taking a breath.

"A little thirsty there, Blaze?" Princess Luna chuckled.

He replied, "Just a little bit, Luna. I did not plan on a playing tag after my exercise routine."

She started to laugh and he joined her. Soon, Princess Celestia joined in with a chuckle. A few minutes later, the human's breakfast came out of the kitchen and he dug right into it. Just like the meal last night, the flavors he tasted were better than anything he had. Blaze cleaned the plate of the food and leaned back in the chair.

"Well, I'm stuffed like a turkey on Thanksgiving," he said.

"Shall we go and take care of that paperwork, then?" Princess Celestia suggested.

The human nodded his head and stood up, but suddenly fell back down into the seat.

Princess Luna asked, "Blaze! Are you alright?"

"Yes, I am. I just realized my legs were a bit more worn out from this morning's events. Would you mind if I fly to follow you, Princess Celestia?"

She replied, "Not at all. I'm glad it was nothing serious."

"Well, we- I mean I'm, going to head to bed. Goodbye, Blaze. I can't wait for the next lesson. Good day, Tia. I will see you this evening," Princess Luna said. The blue Alicorn got up and started to head to her room.

"Sleep well, Lulu. Don't let the bed bugs bite," Princess Celestia said with a smirk. Princess Luna chuckled from the comment, as she recalled what happened last night. "Ready to go to the throne room, Blaze?"

He replied, "Yes, your Highness. The flying will be good for practicing precision control."

The human channeled his ki to hover out of his chair and follow the white Alicorn.  
He tried different flying positions, mostly to see how he needed to direct his energy. Some of them caused him to lose control and descend to the floor. The Princess smirked each time he fell, and at the odd poses he tried as he flew. They finally arrived in the throne room. Inside, Blaze saw a table on one side with a stack of about a hundred pages worth of legal documents.

"Are those the forms I need to legally become a citizen here?" he asked as he pointed to the table.

"Yes, they are," said Princess Celestia. "I'm sorry we did not get to this yesterday. I don't think you will be able to make it to Applejack's award ceremony this afternoon. It takes some almost two days to fill out everything."

"Well, it's a good thing I have an ace or two up my sleeve."

Blaze summoned his backpack to him and began digging through it.

"What are you looking for? I have everything you need to fill the forms out: A few quills, some ink wells..."

"It is another technological advancement that humans created. BEHOLD, THE MIGHTY PEN!" Blaze exclaimed as he pulled it out of the bag.

"How does it work?"

"It's like a quill, but the ink is stored inside and the tiny metal ball rolls it out as you write."

"That is quite impressive. I take you are going to use your clones to speed the process up too?"

"Now you are catching on."

Blaze made two clones and all three went straight to work. One clone read the pages, the second would mark where we had to fill, and the original did the filling in. They made good process with this assembly line. The Princess just watched as Blaze and his clones were not talking, but were in sync while they filled out the forms. After one hour, they finished. The human released the jutsu and reviewed the clones' memories.

Once he was satisfied, Blaze said, "All done, Princess. Every part of that document has been read and filled in correctly. If you would please excuse me, your Highness, I would like to head back to Ponyville and see my friends."

"Very well, Swift Blaze. I shall review this and see if there are any mistakes. If there are, I will summon you. If not, I shall send you a letter to let you know your citizenship certificate can be picked up at Ponyville City Hall," said Princess Celestia. "Shall I get you a royal carriage to take you back, or are you going to fly?"

"Neither, I am going to teleport. I've gotten down short distances. I have to see what the range of it is. Goodbye, Princess Celestia. I shall see you next month, if not sooner."

"Goodbye, Blaze. And please try to stay out of trouble with my guards."

"I will if they don't harass me."

Blaze put his hands together in a sign, and visualized a flight path to his destination, back to Ponyville, his new home.


	16. Chapter 15: For My First Trick

In the Golden Oaks Library, Twilight Sparkle finished writing the note cards for the speech she will be giving at Applejack's Award ceremony. Even though she had not known the orange Earth mare for very long, she filled out two hundred note cards, and The Unicorn was stacking them with her magic when Swift Blaze appeared behind her. The human was a bit woozy and accidentally knocked a big book off the table, which slammed loudly as it hit the floor.

Twilight screamed and launched all the cards into the air. She shouted, "Spike! How many times have I told you to not scare me when I'm working!"

When the mare turned around, instead of seeing her assistant, she saw Blaze standing there.

"Twilight, I'm surprised you jumped to blaming Spike. I'm sure he knows when not to bother you," the human said.

"Blaze? When did you get back? And how did you get in here?!" Twilight asked in a panicked state.

"Calm down, Twilight. I just got back. As to how, I teleported here."

Now in a calmer state, Twilight said, "I would have recognized if you were teleported by the Princess."

"Princess Celestia did not teleport me here, I did."

"When did you learn how to teleport? Also, how in Equestria could you teleport all the way from Canterlot? Only the Princesses are able to do that."

"I shall answer them in order. Number one, I taught myself that a couple nights ago. Number two, I didn't know if I could until I tried. Granted, it took a lot of energy and left me a bit lightheadedafterwards. Number three, now you know someone else that can do it."

"Seeing you are in a explaining mood, mind telling me how you were able to get your bag?"

"Can I show you instead?"

Blaze did a few hand signs. He place his palms on the ground and said, "Ninja Art, Summoning Jutsu!" A puff of smoke appeared in front them. Once dissipated, it revealed the human's back pack.

Twilight's eye shone with glee of these new skills, "Well, I'm happy you made it back in time for the award ceremony. Pinkie Pie is currently decorating City Hall. I have sent Spike to remind Applejack to come at 3pm."

"Then, I'll go and help Pinkie with the decorations. See you there," said Blaze.

Twilight replied, "Bye, Blaze."

The human grabbed his bag and placed it back in his room at the library. Afterwards, he headed out to city hall. Blaze soon saw Pinkie Pie in front of the building. The mare was directing ponies on what to do. He went up to her and said in soldier style, "What are your orders, General Pinkie!"

Pinkie laughed for a quick second, then said in drill sergeant style, "Blaze! I want you to go and hang the banner flags in front of the building!"

"Sir, yes, sir!" he replied.

The human pulled the banners from the box and started to hang with precision at Dash speed. This continued on until all decorations had been put up. Pinkie then started laughing once the others left and it was only her and Blaze.

He said to her, "I take it you enjoyed the acting around while we decorated, Pinkie."

Pinkie replied, "Oh boy, did I ever! I can't wait for you to help me again with decorating for a party again."

"Anytime, Pinkie. Just let me know when and I will be there as quick as a rabbit."

"Okie dokie lokie!" Pinkie said. The mare then went and hopped to some place.

Blaze saw he had some time to kill before the event. As he tried to think of what to do, his stomach started to growl. The human looked around for a place to settle the beast called hunger. He headed over to a cafe and take a seat outside at an empty table. A waitress came over and gave him a menu.  
The mare said, "Good afternoon sir, may I start you off with something to drink? Maybe an order of hay fries? We make the best."

Blaze replied, "No thank you, on the hay fries. My body can't really digest some of what you ponies eat. I will take a glass of water."

"OH MY! YOU'RE HIM! THE HUMAN!" She screamed in a happy voice.

Blaze looked up from the menu. He saw who the waitress, giggling with joy, was: Lyra Heartstrings. He decided to play ignorant of knowing her, to avoid another possible chase event.

"Umm, excuse me, miss," he said. "Your reaction is not what I expected from a pony seeing me. Most would run away while others charge at me as they thought I was a threat."

"I saw you at the welcome ceremony. That was an amazing trick you did. None of the ponies, nor I, could tell who was the real Princess."

"Thank you, miss. I'm glad there are some ponies that aren't afraid of me."

"Please, stop with the miss. It makes me sound old. My name is Lyra Heartstrings. You may call me, Lyra. I'll be back to take the rest of your order."

She went back inside to get his drink. As Blaze was looking over the menu, he thought of how the mare was nice. He did hope she doesn't bug him every meeting with questions about humans. A short time later, the teal Unicorn came out with a glass of water that was held by her magic.

Blaze said, "Thank you, Lyra. I think I'm ready to place my order."

The mare brought out a note pad and quill with her magic. "Ok, so what are you having today?" she asked.

"I'll just have a fresh garden salad with dressing."

"Very good, I'll bring that out very shortly."

Lyra left to place the order. As the human was waiting, he looked around to see what was going on in town. Blaze saw ponies walking around the nearby shops. Over in another area, merchants were selling their products. Up in the sky, the Pegasi flew about to move clouds around and make some disappear. Over in the park, little fillies and colts were playing.

Blaze did noticed that some ponies were whispering to each other as they look at him. Their were even a few guards nearby were keeping an eye on the human. Probably because he has yet gained their trust.

"Here is your salad, Swift Blaze!" said a mare behind him.

The human turned around and saw Lyra was there, with his meal.

"Thank you. It looks delicious. May I have a fork?" he asked.

"But of course! I forgot you don't eat like us ponies. Be right back." The mare went inside and came back quickly with the fork. "Here you are."

"Thanks, Lyra," replied Blaze.

He took the fork from her magical hold. After a couple bites, the human noticed Lyra was still there, giggling to herself. He place the utensil down and looked at the mare with a raised eyebrow.

"Um, Swift Blaze, would you mind if I ask you a few questions?" Lyra said with puppy dog eyes.

"Call me, Blaze," said Blaze. "Won't your boss be mad you are not attending to the other customers?"

"I said I was taking my lunch break. So, may I?"

"Ok, but realize if I say I'll not answer that question, please don't ask why."

A big smile formed on her face. The Unicorn sat down across from the human. She pulled out a scroll now and a quill. She then said, "Oh goody! Is it true that humans eat meat?"

"Yes I do, but I won't eat any ponies, griffins, or dragons, any other talking creature, and creatures Fluttershy take care of."

"How exactly are you able to use each of those fingers?"

"I'm not a biologist from my world. So, I don't have the exact answer to that. Next question."

"Can you tell me about what your world is like?"

"No. The reason is because it's something I promised myself I would not share."

Lyra started to do a pouty face with the big eyes look. Blaze could tell by her eyes how much she wanted him to give in and tell her.

Feeling defeated, he said, "Listen, if you really want to know, come to my place next week when you have a couple hours. I will tell you about my planet. I'm going to warn you now, it's nothing like what you ponies have here."

Lyra said,"Ok! Wait, I thought you didn't have a house yet, only a piece of land. It takes several weeks to get a house built."

"I have my ways. If you want to see how, come to the hill just outside of town at noon, tomorrow."

The mare nodded and returned back to work. This allowed the human to finish eating his lunch. Once Blaze finish, Lyra returned to the table.

He said to her, "Thanks for the meal, how much do I owe?"

The Unicorn replied, "Five bits."

"Here's ten bits. Keep the change. Also, thank you for not being afraid to talk to me. See ya tomorrow."

Before Lyra could respond, Blaze did his teleport jutsu and disappeared. He reappeared back in the library, in front of Spike who was carrying a tall stack of books. The little dragon walked into the tall creature and toppled his stack onto the ground.

"What the?" Spike said as he looked at what he ran into. "Blaze, where did you come from?" He bent down and started to stack the books back up, again.

The human replied, "Sorry about that. I just got done having lunch at a cafe. Here, let me help you with that." Blaze lowered himself down and joined in.

"Thanks. Wait, I didn't hear you come in from the door. Did you use a new jutsu?"

"Yep, a teleportation one."

"Oh cool! That can be very useful. Like when you need to get somewhere quickly and don't want to be exhausted when you arrive. Twilight has taken me on a couple teleports. The problem is sometimes it'll singes my spikes. Are you able to take others with you? What is the furthest you have traveled in one move?"

"Whoa, easy there Spike. I can see Twilight's curiosity has rubbed off onto you. For your questions, I have yet to try taking others with me. More than likely, they will need to hold onto me in order for them to come. The furthest I have traveled from is from the castle to here."

"What? Even Twilight can't go that far. I only know the Princesses are the only one who can pull it off. This is so amazing! What next, cool move are you going to learn?"

"I have something planned for tomorrow. I will practice it tonight some more in my sleep state." Blaze looked at the clock and saw it's getting close for the ceremony. Shall we head to City Hall?"

"Oh! Can we use your teleport to get there?"

"I don't see why not." The human turned and yelled upstairs, "Twilight! Time to head to the ceremony! You want to go with us?"

"Be right there! I need to get a box for my note cards," Twilight replied.

The mare soon came down with a small box in her magic hold.

"I'm ready!" she said with joy.

Blaze said, "Just need to do one more thing before we leave."

He picked the little dragon up and placed him on Twilight's back.

"What are you doing, Blaze?" Twilight asked.

"One sec," the human replied. "Spike can you hold onto a piece of my clothing?"

The little guy reached out with his claw and grabbed the bottom of Blaze's shirt. He had a huge smile on his face.

The human said, "Ok, now we're ready."

"Blaze, this is a little awkward to be walking there like this," Twilight said.

"Who said about walking there? We don't need to walk."

The Unicorn's eye's opened wide as she realized what is about to happen. Before she could protest, Blaze had put his hands together and said, "Ninja Style! Teleportation Jutsu!"

Their vision was blurred during the transition. The group soon arrived just inside City Hall. Spike and Twilight were looking each other over to see if anything was missing.

In a panicked state, Twilight said, "My note cards! They're still at the library!" The mare shoved a fore hoof into one of Blaze's upper legs. "Now I have to go back and get them."

The human rubbed where he was kicked and said, "Wait a sec, I think I can retrieve them."

He performed some other signs with his hands. A quick puff of smoke later and the box that contained her note cards was revealed in his hands.

The Unicorn used her magic to grab it. She opened the lid and was happy to see they were there, in the same order she placed them. The mare closed the box, looked at the human, and said, "You're lucky none are missing, Blaze. Warn me next time you want to teleport. I could have done it myself and my cards would have come with me."

"Sorry about that, Twilight. I wanted to show you I could do it. It was more to test if I could take others with my jutsu. Turns out, I can, but only by contact. I knew if your cards were going to be left behind, I could use my summoning jutsu to bring them here."

"Well, I can see why you did it. It was kind of nice to experience your jutsu, very safe and silent. Everypony would recognize when teleport magic is used."

"Glad you enjoyed the ride." The human looked at the little dragon. "What about you, Spike?"

He had a big smile on his face as he said, "That was amazing! You're really getting the hang of this jutsu! I even did not get my spikes singed this time."

"Don't expect me to use it every time I'm with you. This was just a test. I also wanted to make sure we did not arrive late. You two go on and find a place to watch the ceremony. Need to check with Mayor Mare if she got something for me from the Princess."

"Ok, Blaze, we'll see you soon." Twilight said as she headed outside. Spike was still riding on her back.

The human made his way to the mayor's office and knocked on the door.

"You may enter," a voice said from the other side of the door.

He did so and made his way in. The mayor was going over some paperwork on her desk. She looked to see who came in. "Oh, Swift Blaze, what can I do for you?" Mayor Mare asked.

He replied, "I have a question and a small request for you if are available to hear it."

"It will have to be quick as the award ceremony will be starting soon. What is it you wish to know?"

"First, I was wondering if Princess Celestia has sent you the approval for my citizenship in Equestria."

"I'm afraid I have yet to receive any letter from the Princess today."

"Ok, I guess it is too soon as I just filled out the forms this morning. About the request, I know it takes time to get the permits, plans, and contract to build a house. Would it be possible to send a couple ponies with plumbing and electrical wiring to that hill Princess Celestia gave me tomorrow at noon?"

Mayor Mare had a confused look on her face. "There's nothing on the hill. I don't know what you are planning, but I'll see what I can do. Do you have bits to pay them for the rush job you wish them to do?"

"Yes, I do have bits. The Princess also gave them to me to help until I get a job."

The mayor smiled and said, "That was very generous of Princess Celestia to give you land and money. She must have taken a real liking to you." She got up from behind her desk and walked around. "Now then, let's get to the ceremony."

The two left the office and made their way to the stage that was set up outside. Twilight was on stage, stacking her note cards in her magic. Blaze watched from the left side of the crowd as the Unicorn to give her speech, but kept getting interrupted by her friends. Soon, Mayor Mare insisted to wrap things up. She launched all the note cards into the air and walked off furiously.

The mayor walked behind the podium and did her speech. When she called out for Applejack, the entire crowd cheered for her. Blaze looked around for her to walk up, but couldn't see her anywhere. He couldn't believe that Earth pony hasn't shown up. Even after getting her help she is still late. The human decided to help stall as he made his way to the stage.

Blaze stood next to the podium and said, "Hi everypony! I know I'm not Applejack, but she informed me she was going to be running late. So, she ask me to do some magic tricks for you."

The ponies whispered among themselves as they wonder what's going on. Twilight was with her other friends and they were doing the same.

"For those who didn't see me at my welcome party to Ponyville, I'm going to do some repeat abilities. First, I'll change myself to that of my pony form "

One shadow transform later and the red Earth pony form was now there. A few ponies gasped at this while some others in the middle were cheering. He was happy that some of the townsfolk were warming up to him.

"Now then, I said in my introduction I raced a certain blue Pegasus."

Rainbow Dash shouted from the crowd, "And you owe me a rematch later!"

Several ponies laughed a little bit. Blaze continued with, "You may be wondering how as I don't have wings. It's because of my abilities that allow me to fly another way."

The red stallion started to hover off the stage. He did some simple aerial maneuvers in place he learned from that Pegasus.

"Hey, Rainbow, would you care to help me with the next trick?" he said out loud.

The mare replied, "Sure thing, Blaze!" She flew from the crowd to where he was above the crowd. "So, what is this next trick you want to perform?"

Blaze whispered, "Clone mirror movements."

Her eyes opened wide with a big smile forming on her face. The Earth pony released the shadow transform and did a normal transform jutsu into Rainbow Dash within the puff of smoke. All the ponies were cheering loudly at the sight of them. Blaze mirrored all the flight maneuvers the blue mare was doing. They crossed path so many times, the crowd lost track which one was the original and the other was Swift Blaze.

The pair landed on the stage. A Rainbow Dash said, "Aw yeah! That was Awesome!"

The other replied, "You know it. I wonder if the crowd can tell which one of us is the original."

"Only one way to find out." Both turned to the ponies. "So, which one is the human, in disguise-"

"-and which one is the one and only Rainbow Dash."

The ponies discussed with their neighbors as the two Pegasi watched. Suddenly, a voice shouted, "I know! I know!"

All eyes turned to who said it, Pinkie Pie. The pink pony hopped through the crowd and made her way to the stage. Once there, she said, "It's obvious who the fake is."

Rainbow Dash on the left said, "Then who is it?"

Pinkie pointed to both of them.

"Wait a sec," said Twilight. "How in Equestria can both of them be Swift Blaze?"

"That's easy," the pink mare replied. "Blaze did that clone thingy during the flight show. The real Rainbow Dash is up in that cloud over there."

Where she pointed to, a blue Pegasus head popped out of the cloud. Rainbow Dash flew down and joined the others. "How could you tell both were fakes and where I was? I thought we pulled the stunt off," said the mare.

Pinkie replied, "Blaze was slightly off on your eye color. I found which cloud you were in because you had a tiny bit of your tail showing out of the cloud. Other than that, I couldn't tell when he did the switch."

Both fake ponies got covered in smoke. Blaze had returned to his human form. The crowd cheered at the show.

Blaze said to Pinkie, "I don't even want to know how you could tell the slight difference." He turned to Rainbow Dash and said, "Thanks for helping out. At least we fooled everyone else."

With that, the two mares walked off stage. The human looked around again for Applejack. Still no sign of her. Blaze figured that she must be dealing with those ponies and lost track of time. He couldn't keep stalling forever.

"For my next to final trick, how about I bring the pony of the hour onto the stage," he said.

The human did a couple hand signs, slammed them to the ground, and said, "Ninja Art! Summoning Jutsu!"

A puff of smoke appeared that later revealed Applejack.

"What in tarnation is going on? I was just on my farm and now I am here," the orange mare said in a confused state.

"Applejack, welcome to your award ceremony," said Blaze. "You're here for being a Pony of utmost trustworthiness, reliability, and integrity. The citizens of Ponyville and I wish to award you the Pony of Ponyville Award."

He placed the trophy next to her. All the ponies started to cheer for Applejack and chanted her name. The Earth pony started to blush and walked to the podium to give her thank-you speech.

"Thank you kindly for giving me this award. Sorry for running late, new employees at the farm were being a handful," she said.

Blaze interrupted and said, "Applejack, before you finish your speech, I would like to do my last trick so you can have the entire stage."

She nodded and walked to the edge of the stage. The human turned back to the crowd, "Now, for my final trick, seeing I made somepony appear, I will make myself disappear off the stage. See you ponies later. Sim Sim Sala Bim!"

The human teleported and disappeared off the stage and appeared behind city hall. The ponyfolk cheered loudly from where he could hear. He was glad they were warming up to him. Blaze hoped soon, that none would be afraid.

He then recalled what Applejack said as to why she was late. Maybe they need a refresher to get them straight if they don't want the alternative. He made a clone and it teleported to the farm. Blaze transformed to his pony form and walked back around.

Applejack just finished thanking everypony again. The town was now cheering for her. Mayor Mare walked onto the stage. "Hold on folks, we have a surprise award to give out," she said.

Everyone, including Swift Blaze was wondering what the award is and who it is for.

"Now then, it is not really an award per say, but it's an achievement he rightfully deserves. Would Swift Blaze please come to the stage, if he is still here."

"I'm here," he shouted as the red stallion made his way through the crowd. The ponies continue to whisper as he got on the stage.

"I know you're all wondering what kind of achievement he has earned as he has only been in Equestria for a week. This afternoon, I received a letter from Princess Celestia declaring that Swift Blaze is now a citizen of Equestria. So, I hereby give you this certificate of citizenship in Equestria."

All the ponies started to cheer once more. Blaze himself had a small tear of joy in one eye and a big smile on his face.

The human turned to the crowd and said, "Thank you, Mayor Mare, and thank you ponyfolk for accepting me as a citizen now."

The crowd dissipated back to their normal lives. Twilight and the gang came up to Blaze to give personal congratulations.

"Congrats there, Blaze. I knew you were going to get it," said Twilight.

Rarity then said, "I knew you were going to have no issue in getting it, darling."

"That was so awesome how you allowed me to help with your jutsu demonstration! Oh, and congrats on becoming a citizen. I think you are 20% cooler now," Rainbow Dash said.

"It was lovely of the Princess to get you included in the ceremony," Fluttershy added.

"OhnowIhavetothrowyouBecomingACitizenParty! Youareonepopularponytogettohavesomany parties," Pinkie Pie said at hyper speed.

Applejack came along side Blaze. Then, the mare hoof slapped him on the back of the head.

"OW! What was that for?" the human asked Applejack.

"That was for using that jutsu on me and scaring me half to death." She then gave him a kiss on the cheek. "And that was for making sure I got to my award ceremony."

Everyone there was shocked at what Applejack did.

Blaze rubbed the back of his head as he said, "It was nothing, Applejack. I knew you deserved that award. Plus my gut was telling me that those new employees of yours were giving you a little trouble."

"Oh Shoot! They're all alone in the apple orchards. I need to get back there right away."

Before the orange mare could run off, the human replied, "It's ok, Applejack, I sent a clone to keep an eye on them. If you are really concerned, then let's all go and see if they have been behaving. I'm sure your friends would like to help with the applebucking for the rest of the day."

The ponies and dragon nodded in agreement.

"I appreciate it, partner. Let's get going as they were complaining up a storm about how sore they were. Even you, Blaze, didn't complain when you helped out."

He replied, "What can I say, I've know when to shut up and push through the pain. Like a saying back on Earth, 'No pain, no gain."

The group started the trip to Sweet Apple Acres, under the afternoon sun.

\- Meanwhile -

The human clone arrived at Sweet Apple Acres, in their orchards. He looked around as he walked to find where trees have been bucked and the ones that haven't. He soon found a patch in the east field where a quarter was done. Blaze shifted into his pony form and made his way there. If the guards were not working like they should, they were about to get a rude awakening.

As the red stallion approached quietly, he could hear the guards were complaining up a storm. He listened as he moved closer

"This sucks, Silver. Why did you convince me to do that to those ponies? Now we have to do this or go to the dungeon for five years," one guard said.

The other guard replied, "If I didn't suggest it, you would have, Crimson. Just be happy we get to become guards again after this, and at the level we were at. You know we would haven't been able to get a job after the time in the dungeon. We would be a laughing stock of being the first guards to have been kicked out of the Royal Guard."

"I know, I just wonder where Applejack went. She went to get some more buckets for us and she has not shown up yet."

"Let's continue knocking the apples out of the trees. This would be a lot easier if we had our magic. I can see why the unicorns hate these rings when we put it on them."

"I think the reason we have them on our horns is because we abused our magic by doing what we did." Crimson said as he bucked another tree. Several apples fell down and onto his head. "Son of a bitch! I'm going to have a melon-size bruise when we get done with this."

"Quit your complaining. I have been hit by those apples too. How does the Apple family handle this all by themselves? They must be super ponies."

In all his life, Blaze had never heard a pony, nor human, complain so much before. He figured these stallions must come from rich families that pampered them as they were colts. He wondered how in Equestria did they ever make it through basic training.

The red stallion came out from behind a nearby buck tree and said in a drill seargent voice, "Why am I hearing talking and not enough sounds of trees being bucked?"

"Who in Equestria are you and where did you come from?" Silver asked.

"Names Speedy. I've been working in the barn packing up the apples. I came here to relieve Applejack as she had a prior engagement to get to," Blaze said.

"Well, Applejack went to get more buckets as we were close to filling these up," Crimson replied.

"Then how come you did not deliver them yourself to the barn when they were filled?"

Silver said, "That wasn't part of the job description."

"Oh really? I believe your job here is to help Applejack here on the farm for a year, not just to buck the trees. Now pick up those buckets and bring them to the farm. We don't have all day."

They moaned as they each took a bucket. The red stallion picked up two and placed them on his back. "Let's go Greenies."

The group made their way back to the barn. Blaze was in the lead and the guards were having a hard time keeping up. The human in disguise believed this should help strengthen them better. They got to their destination and dropped off the full buckets and picked up the empty ones to return with.

"Applejack did not tell me your names this morning. Mind sharing them, or would you prefer I keep calling you Greenies?" Blaze said on the way back.

"My name is Silver Weight and he is Crimson Bristle," Silver said.

"Hello, Silver and Crimson. Now how about yourself and why you joined the Royal Guard?"

Crimson replied, "Well, Silver and I grew up together since our families were neighbors. We went to the same schools and enjoyed doing the same things. One thing is we were picked on in magic school as our magic was not as powerful as others. We decided to join the Royal Guard to get respect from the other ponies."

Silver added, "Our families pulled some strings when we signed up. It was so we didn't have to go through the basic training and went to being Royal Guards. It's an easy job as we just had to guard the Princess and the country. Nothing ever happens as everything is peaceful. Just break up a few bar fights and catch the occasional thief."

"Sorry to hear about what happen when you were younger," said Blaze." But, I'm sorry to say that your reason to join the Royal Guard is a stupid one."

"What do you know?" asked Crimson. "You're only an Earth pony and work on a farm. Yes, you do grow the food other ponies eat so you get respect that way, but Royal Guards earn more respect."

The red stallion stopped in his tracks and turned around. He replied, "You don't get respect based upon the position you have. You must earn it like any other pony. It was wrong for your parents to do what they did so you could skip the basic training to be a Royal Guard. If you went through it, maybe then you wouldn't have done what you did."

Silver stomped his fore hoof and said, "What do you know about being in the Royal Guard? Also, what their basic training is like?"

Blaze simply replied, "Well, it's true I don't know exactly the Royal Guard do in their training. But, I do know what a military unit will put recruits through. They put them into the basic training to toughen up their spirit and know how to endure pain. The new guards get stronger through it and prove how loyal they are by not quitting. They're taught combat techniques and the courage to put their lives ahead of their country if it will save it. By skipping these lessons, if you ever experienced battle, and your magic wasn't working, you would probably run away and leave your other guards to die."

"How dare you talk to us like that!" Crimson shouted as he also stomped a fore hoof. "If our magic was not blocked, we would be teaching you a lesson right now."

"But, your magic is blocked. This only proves my point that you rely on your magic too much. A proper guard would have started fighting me with their hooves."

"How is it you know so much about the military when you are just a farm pony?" Silver asked.

"Oh, I only have been working on the farm for a few days to help out. I'm not related to the Apple family in any way. In fact, I'm not even an Earth pony," Blaze said with a smile.

Both Unicorns were confused as to what the Earth pony just said.

Crimson asked, "What are you talking about? Even with this ring on my horn, I can still detect illusion magic. Right now, I don't sense any on you."

"Then, I shall prove it."

The red stallion was engulfed in smoke as he released the jutsu. Once the smoke cleared away, the guards' faces went to full fear as they realize who he was.

The human just stood there with his arms crossed on his chest as he said, "Hello, boys."

The stallions dropped their empty baskets. Each one went into different begging positions.

"Oh, Celestia!" said Silver. "Please don't send us to the dungeon. We didn't mean to back talk you."

Crimson said, "Yeah, we promise we're working as best we can. It's just we aren't use to this lifestyle."

"We promise to continue to work, without complaint," Silver added.

Blaze said, "Oh, I heard some of the conversation you had before I revealed my pony form. I don't mind the complaining about how I tricked you to do this, but you will have to earn my respect by not disobeying Applejack when she gives you a task. You are to go above and beyond what she asks you to do. If you see something needs to be done around the farm and you know how, take care of it. Her brother is still recovering from an injury. So, I don't want her to try to do too much by herself. I know she can easily do more than you two put together. Consider this part of the basic training you seem to have missed. Following orders of your boss without goofing off. Basic training has it far worse and with you rich boys, you would have not lasted a day."

"How is it you know so much of the training? You're not even from Equestria," Crimson said.

"That's because back on my world, what your Royal Guard skill and training they go through is the level of police force of mine. Protect the citizens in the town and take care of local disturbances. The military on my world are on a whole other level. I did not go through it myself, but I had friends and family that did and they shared their stories with me."

Silver asked, "Why did you compare the Royal Guard to police on your world?"

"Let me answer by asking you a question. When was the last major battle where armies took part in and creatures died on both sides?"

"That would probably be the Griffin Wars which were several centuries ago. Well before our time."

"That is why I did the comparison," said Blaze. "The Royal Guard is great at what they do, but they are not ready for a full-on battle with another nation or major enemy. On my world, there are battles of different nations every week. My nation going against terrorist from two other nations where they would even set traps for anypony to set off and suicide bombers to kill innocent victims."

"I'm sorry to hear that. I don't know how anypony could live in such a dangerous place," said Crimson.

Silver asked, "How were you able to handle hearing about the deaths of people you may have known?"

"I'm sorry, but that is a story for another time. Let's get back to work."

The guards nodded and picked up their baskets and moved them to the next tree's in line to be bucked. The human watched and gave a little advice on technique as he waited.

On the outskirts of the farm. Applejack lead her friends through the trees. The mare trotted quickly to where she last left the guards.

"Relax, Applejack. They're not going anywhere. My clone will make sure they're still working," said the human.

The orange mare replied, "I know, it's just that I didn't tell them I left. I do like having some extra hooves to help around the farm, I just think these two never worked hard a day in their life. I think they're from rich folks in Canterlot by their attitude. Not royalty, but definite upper class."

"I just can't understand why Princess Celestia agreed with your decision for punishment," said Rarity. "It's unheard-of to treat ponies like this. Mind sharing with us as what they did Blaze?"

"I'm sorry, but Princess Celestia has ordered me to not to share for the safety of you and for them. All I can say is they didn't touch, nor harm any of us."

The group finally reached their destination. Everyone saw the stallions were still working hard with Blaze's clone leaning against a bucked tree. The clone looked at the other human and gave a nod. In a puff of smoke, he disappeared. Blaze closed his eyes as he reviewed the memories. When the human opened his eyes, Applejack was there standing in front of him.

The mare asked, "So, did they behave while I was gone?"

"They did, Applejack. You're doing a fine job teaching them work ethic and they will appreciate it in the end. Shall we go and help out till sunset?"

They all nodded and split into groups to tackle the task. With all of them working together, they made quick work on the eastern fields before sunset. All the ponies were exhausted from the work once they finished. Blaze could see Silver and Crimson were about to collapse where they were standing. They human did believe these stallions need this kind of training, if they expect to survive actual Royal Guard training.

Blaze turned to his friends and said, "I think we should get Silver and Crimson to bed, before they collapse out here."

The guards nodded as best they could to that idea. Applejack led them to the barn where she had them sleep the night prior. Everyone else followed and waited outside. The orange mare came back out and closed the big door before she turned around to face the others.

"Now that the south and east fields have been harvested, I feel better with the working arrangement," she said. "Where shall we go for dinner?"

"Where ever we decide on to go, I'm buying. I will not take no for an answer," said Blaze. "You all have taken me into your homes and provided food for me. It's the least I can do to repay."

They accepted this and headed back into town.


End file.
